Bob Barker and Betty White have been American television fixtures for decades united in their support of animal welfare causes but divided over what they think is best for an elephant named Billy.
The tension between them, over a planned renovation of the Los Angeles Zoo’s elephant exhibit, has become fodder for celebrities and gossip outlets. Barker, who died on Saturday, opposed the renovation and wanted the one elephant left at the zoo at the time, Billy, to be moved to a sanctuary. White, who was deeply involved with the zoo, supported the renovation.
In January 2009Barker, Cher and Lily Tomlin spoke at a Los Angeles City Council meeting to oppose the renovation and Barker offered to pay $1.5 million to move Billy.
Barker opposed the exhibit for years, and in 2006 said that the elephants there “lived in misery.”
The zoo’s nonprofit partner, the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association, responded that the zoo is the elephant’s home and that it will provide Billy and the other elephants with “a level of personal care and state-of-the-art veterinary services that they would otherwise not .get anywhere else,” The Los Angeles Times reported.
White had more than five decade relationship with the zoo and was a trustee of the Zoo Association at the time of his death in December 2021. He told The New York Times in 2011 that the zoo was far from his home and he could go outside of normal visiting hours.
He spoke in support of the arrangement at a City Council meeting and stood by the project in a 2012 interview with the zoo’s magazine, Zoo View.
“It just seemed like it was never going to happen, and it almost shut down, which was about to come to fruition – I think I didn’t sleep for a whole week,” he said. “But sure enough, through persistence, we did it, and it was good on both sides of the enclosure. It’s great for elephants, and it’s great for people.
Representatives for Barker and White did not immediately respond to requests for comment Sunday.
The disagreement gave rise to rumors of a feud between the two published in 2009 in The National Enquirer, which cited anonymous sources as saying that Barker threatened not to attend the Game Show Awards if White attended. Neither Barker nor White appear to have responded to the rumor publicly.
Barker will attend the 2009 award show, where he was honored for his work on “The Price Is Right.”
White, who? won the award for Favorite Celebrity Player for “Million Dollar Password,” just appeared on the show in a video tribute to Mark Goodson, who produced shows including “The Price Is Right,” “Family Feud” and “Match Game.”
After four years, White tried to make changes, The National Enquirer saidagain citing an unknown source.
Billy still lives at the zoo, even as the Los Angeles City Council committee said in December 2022 that after 30 years, Billy must be moved to a sanctuary.
Cher and Tomlin are still supporting the effort to move Billy. The zoo said it did not agree to the effort and that it had “full confidence in the knowledge, skills and expertise of our entire animal care team.”
