Bea Arthur called Betty White an outrageous slur on set of Golden Girls, producer reveals

Daily Mail​

20-06-2025

Despite starring on Golden Girls together for seven years, Bea Arthur and Betty White were not the friendly duo they portrayed on screen in real life.
In fact, they had some serious beef behind-the-scenes, according to co-producer Marsha Posner Williams.
Williams delved into the two actress' nasty feud during an appearance at the Pride Live! Hollywood festival this week.
She appeared alongside a panel of writers and producers who worked on the show to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the legendary sitcom, where she shared some insight into their fraught relationship.
'When that red light was on [and the show was filming], there were no more professional people than those women,' Williams said of the pair.
However, she declared 'when the red light was off,' they couldn't have made their feeling more obvious.
'Those two couldn't warm up to each other if they were cremated together,' she continued.
Williams added that Arthur, who passed away in 2009, used 'the C-word' more than once while talking about White, who died in 2021.
'[Arthur] used to call me at home and say, "I just ran into that [c**t] at the grocery store. I'm gonna write her a letter,"' she recalled.
'And I said, "Bea, just get over it for crying out loud. Just get past it."'
'I remember, my husband and I went over to Bea's house a couple of times for dinner. Within 30 seconds of walking in the door, the c-word came out,' Williams continued.
The Golden Girls panelists also reflected on why they thought the two didn't get along.
Jim Vallely, another co-producer, said he believed it was because White got a lot more applause during cast introductions ahead of tapings.
However, Williams disagreed, sharing her theory: it was due to their different acting backgrounds, with Arthur coming from the theatre and White having a television background.
She also said there may have been some resentment between the co-stars due to Arthur refusing to continue her contract, effectively ending their seven-year run.
'The show would have continued after seven years,' she explained.
'Their contracts were up and … the executives went to the ladies, and Estelle [Getty] said, "Yes, let's keep going," and Rue [McClanahan] said, "Yes let's keep going," and Betty said, "Yes, let's keep going." And Bea said, "No f**king way," and that's why that show didn't continue.'
Williams added that Arthur would often seem annoyed when White broke character during scenes.
'Betty would break character in the middle of the show [and talk to the live audience], and Bea hated that,' she dished.
Casting director Joel Thurm said that he heard Arthur call White a profane name on a flight, a story he originally shared in a podcast in 2022.
He explained on The Originals podcast - hosted by entertainment journalist Andrew Goldman and produced by Los Angeles Magazine: 'Literally Bea Arthur, who I cast in something else later on, just said, "Oh, she's a f**king c**t," using that word."'
Golden Girls, created by Susan Harris, ran from 1985 to 1992 and starred Arthur as Dorothy Zbornak, White as Rose Nylund, McClanahan as Blanche Devereaux, and Getty as Sophia Petrillo.
In 2011, White addressed the rumors of on-set issues with her and Arthur in an interview with The Village Voice, saying: 'Bea had a reserve. She was not that fond of me. She found me a pain in the neck sometimes.
'It was my positive attitude - and that made Bea mad sometimes. Sometimes if I was happy, she'd be furious!'
Getty died at 84 in 2008 from Lewy body dementia, while Arthur died at her Brentwood home of lung cancer at the age of 86 on April 25, 2009.
McClanahan died a year later aged 76 after suffering a brain hemorrhage and White died of natural causes just three weeks ahead of her 100th birthday in December 2021.