Sherri Shepherd

Sherri Evonne Shepherd (born April 22, 1967) is an American actress, comedian, author, podcaster, television presenter and talk show host. 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 and the daily syndicated daytime talk show Sherri from 2022 to 2026. She also starred in the sitcoms The Jamie Foxx Show (1999-2001), Less than Perfect (2002–2006), Sherri, Trial & Error (2017–2018), and Mr. Iglesias (2019–2020).

In 2009, she published the book Permission Slips: Every Woman's Guide to Giving Herself a Break. In 2012, she appeared as a contestant on the 14th season of the reality competition series Dancing with the Stars. Shepherd had a recurring role as Angie Jordan on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, a recurring role on the HBO Max series The Sex Lives of College Girls, and hosted the game show Best Ever Trivia Show.

Early life Shepherd was born in Chicago. 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. Her mother died in 1991, when Sherri was 23.

Career 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. 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." From 2007 to 2013, she had a recurring role as Angie, the wife of character Tracy Jordan, on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock. In 1998, she played in an episode of Friends. In 2009, she starred for one season in Lifetime Television's Sherri, a sitcom about Shepherd's life. She recurred as Daphne during the final season of How I Met Your Mother in 2013. In the same year, Shepherd appeared on Broadway in Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical production of Cinderella. From 2017 to 2018, Shepherd portrayed Anne Flatch in NBC's mockumentary legal comedy series, Trial & Error. She will produce and star in the comedy series pilot Black Don't Crack.

Television personality Shepherd has appeared as a guest host and contestant on several television shows such as Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Rachael Ray, and To Tell the Truth. She co-hosted the 35th Daytime Emmy Awards on June 20, 2008. She became host of the Game Show Network version of The Newlywed Game in 2010, replacing Carnie Wilson, and would host that show until it ended in 2013. Shepherd also hosted Nickelodeon's NickMom Night Out special from 2013 to 2014, Shepherd hosted Best Ever Trivia Show on Game Show Network for 65 episodes, beginning on June 10, 2019. She has appeared regularly as a panelist on Funny You Should Ask since 2017.

In 2006, Shepherd became a frequent guest co-host on ABC's daytime talk show The View. She became a permanent co-host in 2007, debuting in September, when she replaced Star Jones. After leaving The View in 2014, Shepherd continued to make several appearances on the show as a contributor throughout 2015 and 2016.

Shepherd encountered public criticism after a September 2007 broadcast of The View when she stated she did not "believe in evolution. Period." Co-host Whoopi Goldberg asked her, "Is the world flat?" Shepherd responded, "I don't know," and expanded that she "never thought about it". 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!"

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."

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." In January 2008, Sherri referred to Gospel singer Shirley Caesar as "the black Patti LaBelle." LaBelle, like Caesar, is black.

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. In 2009, Shepherd won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host alongside Behar, Goldberg, Walters, and Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

In March 2012, Shepherd participated as a celebrity contestant on the fourteenth season of ABC's Dancing with the Stars finishing tenth; her dance partner was Val Chmerkovskiy.

In 2019, Shepherd participated in the second season of Fox's The Masked Singer as "Penguin".

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. The series premiered on September 12. In January 2023, the series was renewed for its second and third seasons through 2025.

Other ventures Shepherd wrote the book Permission Slips: Every Woman's Guide to Giving Herself a Break, published in October 2009. Shepherd also has a co-author credit on Plan D: How to Lose Weight and Beat Diabetes, published in 2013.

Sherri raises funds for the YAI Sherri Shepherd "Believe in Abilities" Fund. YAI 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. In 2011, Shepherd offered to pay six months' rent and utilities of homeless former American Gladiators star Debbie Clark (Storm). As of 2015, a project includes a line of wigs and hair add-ins.

Personal life Shepherd was married to Jeff Tarpley from 2001 to 2010. They have a son, Jeffrey, born in April 2005. Shepherd became engaged to writer Lamar Sally on December 26, 2010. The couple married in Chicago in August 2011 and separated in May 2014. 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.

Shepherd has type 2 diabetes after having had prediabetes for years. Formerly a Jehovah's Witness,

Filmography

Awards and nominations Emmy Awards Year Category Recipient Outcome Children's and Family Emmy Awards 2022 Outstanding Voice Performance in a Preschool Animated Program Blaze and the Monster Machines: "The Fastest of them All" Daytime Emmy Awards 2008 Outstanding Talk Show Host The View 2009 2010 2011 2014 2023 Sherri

NAACP Image Awards Awards Year Category Recipient Outcome 2009 Outstanding Talk Series The View 2010 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series Sherri 2011 Outstanding Talk Series The View 2022 Best Lifestyle & Self Help Podcast Two Funny Mamas 2023 Outstanding Arts & Entertainment Podcast Outstanding Talk Series Sherri Outstanding Host in a Talk or News / Information (Series or Special) - Individual or Ensemble 2024 Outstanding Host in a Talk or News / Information (Series or Special) Outstanding Talk Series 2025 Outstanding Host in a Talk or News / Information (Series or Special) Outstanding Arts, Sports and Entertainment Podcast Two Funny Mamas 2026 Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Television Movie, Limited-Series or Special Straw Outstanding Talk Series Sherri Outstanding Host in a Talk or News / Information (Series or Special)

Miscellaneous awards and nominations Year Organization Category Recipient Outcome 2005 BET Comedy Awards BET Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Less than Perfect 2009 Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards Best Cast Precious Boston Society of Film Critics Best Ensemble Cast 2010 Screen Actors Guild Awards Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Actor Awards Outstanding performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Critics' Choice Movie Awards Best Acting Ensemble Black Reel Awards Black Reel Award for Outstanding Ensemble Gracie Awards Gracie Allen Award for Outstanding Female Lead in a Comedy Series Sherri Braveheart Award Powerful Women in Hollywood Herself 2013 People's Choice Awards Favorite Daytime TV Host The View 2017 Canadian Screen Awards Canadian Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress Jean of the Joneses 2024 People's Choice Awards The Daytime Talk Shoe Sherri 2025 Hollywood Walk of Fame Television Herself