Betty White’s agent is clearing up a false rumor circulating online that the TV icon received a COVID-19 booster shot last week, three days before her death on New Year’s Eve.
White’s agent and close friend, Jeff Witjas, revealed to the media Monday that she died “peacefully in her sleep at her home,” while debunking a statement, falsely attributed to her, that she had received a booster shot on Dec. 28.
“People are saying her death was related to getting a booster shot three days earlier but that is not true,” Witjas said in a statement to People. “She died of natural causes. Her death should not be politicized — that is not the life she lived.”
The Associated Press had earlier fact-checked a statement falsely attributed to White. According to chatter on Twitter and Facebook, White supposedly told a news outlet she received a COVID-19 vaccine booster on Dec. 28, saying: “Eat healthy and get all your vaccines. I just got boosted today.”
The AP found that the quote was fabricated. For one thing, White did not receive a booster that day, Witjas confirmed to the news organization.
The article, from the Minnesota news outlet, Crow River Media, and cited by social media users, also did not contain the bogus quote. According to AP, one post on Twitter shared the false quote with a caption that read, “Died 3 days later! Coincidence.” Some users also shared the booster claim without the quote, with one asking, “Is it true betty white received a booster 12/28?!?”
The AP found that the article, titled, “Betty White: I’m lucky to still be in good health,” also did not contain any statements about vaccines.
Witjas told People that he finds it hard to believe that White is gone.
“Even though Betty was about to be 100, I thought she would live forever,” he said. “I will miss her terribly and so will the animal world that she loved so much. I don’t think Betty ever feared passing because she always wanted to be with her most beloved husband, Allen Ludden (the TV personality who died in 1981). She believed she would be with him again.”
In a recent cover story for People, White also opened up about the prospect of turning 100 on Jan. 17. “I’m so lucky to be in such good health and feel so good at this age,” she said. “It’s amazing.”