Betty White’s Instagram Can Die Now

Scrolling through my little RSS feed today, I came across a headline that read, “Betty White’s Go-To Sandwich Recipe Revealed: Peanut Butter And Bologna.” First of all, disgusting. That’s the most depression-era ass sandwich I’ve ever heard of. Second of all, revealed by whom? Who is out here revealing the secrets of the Golden Girls star’s nasty taste in lunch?

It turns out that the late comedy icon’s special recipe was divulged on White’s Instagram, which is, believe it or not, still active. The account is run by White’s former assistant Kiersten Mikelas, who has been posting frequently since White’s death in late 2021.

In a post at the time, Mikelas wrote that the White estate had “very graciously offered [her] the opportunity to manage Betty’s social media accounts.” Then she ushered in White’s posthumous posting era with a few blurry photos of some ducks that hung out in her yard.

It doesn’t have to be like this. When a celebrity dies, their social accounts should go with them. No one was clamoring to see an old photo of White dressed in her volunteer services uniform for Memorial Day. Just like no one needs Joan Rivers’s daughter Melissa to occasionally hop onto her late mother’s Twitter account to share a throwback photo of Joan with Howard Stern. Let these women rest.

In the case of White, it is especially bad because she had the greatest exit from this mortal coil we’ve seen in quite some time. Dying just before your 100th birthday on New Year’s Eve, when a celebratory documentary and a People cover (“Betty White Turns 100!”) were already in the can? That was the perfect way to go, with one last moment of impeccable comedic timing. Instead, here I am, reading about how in addition to peanut butter and bologna, there’s lettuce on the sandwich.