*Sherri Shepherd is reflecting on her time as a co-host of “The View,” opening up about the negotiations that took place before she officially joined the daytime talk show.
In a new interview with Vulture, the 58-year-old comedian revealed that Rosie O’Donnell gave her crucial advice that helped her secure a better salary when she became part of the panel. Shepherd’s first experience on “The View” came when she filled in for Star Jones during Johnnie Cochran’s funeral.
“Joy Behar liked me so much and asked for me back,” Shepherd recalled. At the time, she was dealing with personal turmoil, having just discovered her then-husband was cheating.
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“I had just found out my then-husband was cheating, and I went on there and told everybody,” she said. “They were like, ‘She has got diarrhea of the mouth.’ I hit so many checkboxes — they loved that I was the Black single mom, funny, and willing to tell everything about my life.”
Shepherd described that moment as a “defining career move,” as her candidness made a strong impression on co-creator Bill Geddie. He later approached her about becoming a regular co-host, as Star Jones was preparing to leave. Shepherd turned down the offer, saying, “I said, ‘That’s too messy for me,’ and said ‘no.’”
When Jones announced in 2006 that she was leaving “The View” after her contract was not renewed, producers once again approached Shepherd to join the panel. Barbara Walters called her twice, but Shepherd turned the offer down. She didn’t hear from the show for nine months
When negotiations finally began, Shepherd faced a major challenge: her salary. “They didn’t want to give me any money,” she explained. “I would have made more doing a sitcom — and I had a boy with special needs.”
That’s when Rosie O’Donnell stepped in to help. “Rosie called me and said, ‘Let me tell you what everybody’s making — I make $2 million, Joy [Behar] makes $500,000, Elisabeth Hasselbeck makes $500,000 — so you need to ask for $2 million,’” Shepherd revealed.
Initially, the network offered Shepherd just $400,000, but after negotiations, she eventually secured $1 million for her co-hosting role. “I will always credit Rosie O’Donnell for being open about that,” Shepherd said.
Shepherd officially joined “The View” in 2007 and remained on the show until 2014. Today, she hosts her own daytime talk show, “Sherri,” which debuted its fourth season on September 22.
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