Valerie Bertinelli Has a Message for Her Trolls: "You're Not Being Helpful"

Actress Valerie Bertinelli is going through a lot these days.

On top of all of the One Day at a Time star's hardships, the TV personality has also had to deal with her fair share of heartlessness from people online. But instead of shying away from the spotlight, Valerie has decided to take a stand against online trolls who have been filling up her Instagram comments with negativity.

Valerie has also been dealing with the emotional fallout following the death of her ex-husband, Eddie Van Halen. Now, with many fans asking just what happened to Valerie Bertinelli, here’s a run-down of everything you need to know.

Fans all over the world were shocked when Eddie Van Halen’s death was announced to the public on October 6, 2020. The guitar legend passed on at the age of 65 after a long and difficult battle with cancer.

Although Valerie and Eddie had been separated for almost 20 years, Valerie was devastated and posted a touching tribute to her ex-husband on Instagram. Along with a black and white picture of her, Eddie, and their son, Wolfgang, Valerie wrote, “40 years ago my life changed forever when I met you. You gave me the one true light in my life, our son, Wolfgang.”

She continued, “Through all your challenging treatments for lung cancer, you kept your gorgeous spirit and that impish grin. I’m so grateful Wolfie and I were able to hold you in your last moments. I will see you in our next life my love.”

However, despite the devastating loss that she was experiencing, Valerie was not afforded the compassion one would usually have for someone in mourning. She later revealed on Today With Hoda and Jenna that she never thought “grief shame…would happen to [her].”

Valerie went on to say that while she didn’t care to go into the details of the abuse, she clarified that she “still loved [Eddie],” and that he was still a huge part of her life, despite their divorce.

Recently, Valerie took to her Instagram once again to speak out against a rude online troll who tried to body-shame her by saying that she needed to lose weight. In a video, Valerie addressed the commentator directly. “You're not being helpful,” she said.

She also added, “If I could lose the weight and keep it off, I would, but since I haven't been successful with that my whole entire life, at 61, I'm still dealing with it.” She ended by asking, “Where’s the compassion?”

Many people, celebrities included, rallied to offer support to Valerie following her post, but some called her out for promoting diet culture in the past and being a part of the problem.

Instead of being defensive, Valerie immediately acknowledged that while her past actions may have been problematic, she too had “been buying into the diet industry [her] whole life and … became part of the problem.”

She finished her post saying, “We could all use a little more kindness and patience and grace because we just never know what someone else is going through."