Bob Barker and Betty White had been American tv fixtures for many years who had been united of their help of animal welfare causes however had been divided about what they thought was finest for an elephant named Billy.
The strain between them, a couple of deliberate renovation of the Los Angeles Zoo’s elephant exhibit, turned fodder for movie star and gossip shops. Barker, who died on Saturday, had opposed the renovation and needed the one elephant left on the zoo on the time, Billy, to be moved to a sanctuary. White, who was deeply concerned with the zoo, supported the renovation.
In January 2009, Barker, Cher and Lily Tomlin spoke at a Los Angeles Metropolis Council assembly to oppose the renovation and Barker offered to pay $1.5 million to relocate Billy.
Barker had opposed the exhibit for years, and in 2006 stated that the elephants there had “lived in distress.”
The zoo’s nonprofit companion, the Better Los Angeles Zoo Affiliation, responded that the zoo was the elephant’s residence and that it could give Billy and different elephants “a degree of private care and state-of-the-art veterinary companies they merely received’t get wherever else,” The Los Angeles Instances reported.
White had a greater than five-decade relationship with the zoo and was a trustee of the Zoo Affiliation on the time of her loss of life in December 2021. She advised The New York Instances in 2011 that the zoo was her residence away from residence and that she might drop by exterior regular visiting hours.
She spoke in help of the renovation at a Metropolis Council assembly and stood by the venture in a 2012 interview with the zoo’s journal, Zoo View.
“It appeared prefer it was by no means going to occur, and to nearly get shut down, that near fruition — I feel it was an entire week that I didn’t sleep,” she stated. “However certain sufficient, by persevering, we obtained it achieved, and it’s stunning on either side of the enclosure. It’s nice for the elephants, and it’s nice for the folks.”
Representatives for Barker and White didn’t instantly reply to requests for touch upon Sunday.
The disagreement gave rise to a rumor of a feud between the 2 that was printed in 2009 in The Nationwide Enquirer, which cited nameless sources saying that Barker had threatened to not attend the Sport Present Awards if White attended. Neither Barker nor White seems to have addressed the rumor in public.
Barker did attend the 2009 award present, the place he was honored for his work on “The Worth Is Proper.”
White, who won the award for Favorite Celebrity Player for “Million Greenback Password,” solely appeared on the present in a video tribute to Mark Goodson, who produced exhibits together with “The Worth Is Proper,” “Household Feud” and “Match Sport.”
4 years later, White tried to make amends, The National Enquirer said, once more citing an nameless supply.
Billy nonetheless lives on the zoo, although a Los Angeles Metropolis Council committee stated in December 2022 that after 30 years, Billy must be moved to a sanctuary.
Cher and Tomlin are nonetheless supporting the hassle to maneuver Billy. The zoo stated that it disagreed with the hassle and that it had “full confidence within the data, abilities and experience of our whole animal care staff.”
