Sherri Evonne Shepherd (born April 22, 1967) [1] is an American actress, comedian, author, podcaster, and television presenter. She currently hosts the daily syndicated daytime talk show, Sherri. From 2007 to 2014, Shepherd was a co-host of the daytime talk show The View, for which she received multiple Daytime Emmy Award nominations, winning one in 2009. She hosted Dish Nation from 2019 to December 2022, with her final months in limited episodes due to her talk show. She also starred in the sitcoms The Jamie Foxx Show (1999-2001), Less than Perfect (2002–2006), Sherri (2009), Trial & Error (2017–2018), and Mr. Iglesias (2019–2020).
Shepherd was born in Chicago, Illinois. She is the eldest of three girls. Her parents are LaVerne (1941-1991) and Lawrence A. Shepherd (born c. 1947). Her parents became Jehovah's Witnesses when Shepherd was a child. Due to many religious and non-religious issues, her parents divorced when Sherri was very young. Due to her mother's untimely death in 1991 after the divorce, her father became the sole parent for all three girls.[2]
Shepherd's first television acting job was starring as Victoria Carlson in the short lived sitcom Cleghorne!, which aired for one season on The WB in 1995.[3] She told Ebony in 2018, "That was the first job that I booked and I was still a legal secretary. My agent told me, 'You can quit your job.' I had that big break ... and then it was canceled. I lost my apartment, my car was repossessed and I was homeless for a year. I slept on everybody's couch. In this business, it's very uncertain. You can be working one day and not working the next."[3]
Shepherd later became recognized for her role as Sheila Yarborough on Jamie Foxx's own sitcom The Jamie Foxx Show from 1996 to 2001 and for recurring roles on the sitcoms Suddenly Susan and Everybody Loves Raymond in the late 1990s, while starring in the show Less Than Perfect in the lead role of Ramona Platt from 2002 to 2006. From 2005 to 2009, Shepherd had a recurring role as Sandra, the girlfriend of character Lenny Davidson, on the FOX sitcomThe War at Home. In 2007, she played Rhonda in the IMAX rerelease version of Transformers.[4] From 2007 – 2013, she had a recurring role as Angie, the wife of character Tracy Jordan, on the NBC sitcom30 Rock. In 2009, she starred for one season in Lifetime Television's Sherri, a sitcom about Shepherd's life.[5] She recurred as Daphne during the final season of How I Met Your Mother in 2013.[6] In the same year, Shepherd appeared on BroadwayinRodgers and Hammerstein's musical production of Cinderella.[7] From 2017 to 2018, Shepherd portrayed Anne Flatch in NBC's mockumentary legal comedy series, Trial & Error.[8] She will produce and star in the comedy series pilot Black Don't Crack.[9]
In 2006, Shepherd became a frequent guest co-host on ABC's daytime talk show The View.[12] She became a permanent co-host in 2007, debuting in September, when she replaced Star Jones.[13] Since leaving The View in 2014, Shepherd has continued to make several appearances on the show as a contributor throughout 2015 and 2016.[14]
Shepherd encountered public criticism after a September 2007 broadcast of The View when she stated she did not "believe in evolution. Period."[15] Co-host Whoopi Goldberg asked her, "Is the world flat?" Shepherd responded, "I don't know," and expanded that she "never thought about it".[16] Shepherd later referred to her statement as a "brain fart" brought on by nerves. Barbara Walters and Shepherd talked after that episode: Walters said, "Dear, the Earth is round", and Shepherd responded with: "Barbara, I know that!"[17][18]
The View was often filmed "live", with little or no editing, so more criticism erupted after the December 4, 2007, broadcast when, during a discussion initiated by Joy Behar about Epicurus, Shepherd attempted to assert that Christians existed in classical Greece, and that the Greeks threw them to the lions. When confronted on this point, she further claimed that "Jesus came first" (before Greeks and Romans) and stated, "I don't think anything predated Christians", to which Behar responded: "The Jews."[19]
Shepherd garnered further criticism after admitting to never voting partly due to her upbringing as a strict Jehovah's Witness. She was quoted as saying that she just "never knew the dates or anything"; she stated, "I've never voted for anything in my life."[20] In January 2008, Sherri referred to Gospel singer Shirley Caesar as "the black Patti LaBelle." LaBelle, like Caesar, is black.[21]
In 2008, she created more controversy on The View due to "flippant" remarks regarding abortion. She later clarified her position, saying her remarks weren't meant to be "flippant" but rather to inspire other women who may be dealing with guilt after abortions. She cited having multiple abortions herself in her 20s, which caused her to suffer from shame and guilt due to those experiences. She also revealed she later converted to Evangelical Christianity.[22] In 2009, Shepherd won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host alongside Behar, Goldberg, Walters, and Elisabeth Hasselbeck.[23]
From October 2021 to June 2022, Shepherd was among the recurring guest hosts of the syndicated daytime talk show The Wendy Williams Show, as its namesake Wendy Williams had been on an indefinite absence from the program due to her medical issues. On February 22, 2022, the show's distributor Debmar-Mercury announced that Shepherd had been signed on to host a new talk show, Sherri, which premiered in the 2022–23 television season as a replacement for Wendy.[26][27] The series premiered on September 12.[28] In January 2023, the series was renewed for its second and third seasons through 2025.[29]
Shepherd wrote the book Permission Slips: Every Woman's Guide to Giving Herself a Break, published in October 2009.[30] Shepherd also has a co-author credit on Plan D: How to Lose Weight and Beat Diabetes, published in 2013.[31]
Sherri raises funds for the YAI Sherri Shepherd "Believe in Abilities" Fund.[32] YAI[33] supports people of all ages with intellectual and developmental disabilities in achieving the fullest life possible by creating new opportunities for living, loving, working, and learning. YAI is a network of agencies with programs that empower and enhance the lives of thousands of people we support and their families.
In 2009, Shepherd appeared on an episode of WWE SmackDown as the guest manager for professional wrestler MVP, who competed against Dolph Ziggler in a match defending the WWE United States Championship.[34] In 2011, Shepherd offered to pay six months' rent and utilities of homeless former American Gladiators star Debbie Clark (Storm).[35] As of 2015, a project includes a line of wigs and hair add-ins.[36]
Shepherd was married to Jeff Tarpley from 2001 to 2010.[37][38] They have a son, Jeffrey, born in April 2005.[39] Shepherd became engaged to writer Lamar Sally on December 26, 2010.[40] The couple married in Chicago in August 2011 and separated in May 2014.[41][42] Following the May, 2014 split, Shepherd and Sally welcomed a son, Lamar Jr., via surrogacy in August 2014. However, Shepherd does not have a biological connection to the child, as he was conceived using a donor egg.[42] During the following year, 2015, they finalized their divorce. Along with the initial divorce petition, Shepherd had also challenged the surrogacy contract and sought to remove her name from Lamar Jr.'s birth certificate. A Pennsylvania appeals court ruled against Shepherd, stating she was legally responsible for the child.[43][44]
