ENTERTAINMENTSherri Shepherd Reveals Barbara Walters Made Her 'Cry for 3 Years Straight' on 'The View': 'She Was Hard on Me'
Sherri Shepherd's experience on 'The View' left her with mixed feelings.
Oct. 1 2025, Published 4:46 p.m. ET
Though Sherri Shepherd insisted working on The View was a great experience, the TV star admitted she also spent every day in tears.
Shepherd dished on her time on the set while appearing on "The Jamie Kern Lima Show" podcast, where she explained her personality nowadays is a stark contrast from how she was growing up.
Sherri Shepherd's Struggles on 'The View'
Sherri Shepherd admitted she found it difficult to speak up on 'The View' in the early days of her co-hosting job.
The comedian, 58, was taught to keep quiet in her religious family, so expressing her opinions with others on TV was a challenge in the earlier episodes.
"When I got on The View, it was everything I hated to do, I had to do every day on The View. I was a very fearful person," she explained. "I was not like that, I was very fearful, I was very shy. I didn't express my opinion. I learned it, I said it, but I was not this Sherri. To be interrupting people, [I initially thought] if I didn't interrupt people on The View, I didn't get hurt."
The TV star revealed 'The View' costar Barbara Walters 'made me cry for three years straight.'
"For me, it was one of the best experiences of my life," continued Shepherd, then admitting she "did cry for three years" on the job.
"Barbara Walters made me cry for three years straight, but what I learned, she taught me how to find my voice," the comedian noted. "I found my voice on that show. I joke, I say, now my voice is deep because Barbara told me when your voice is deeper, it projects confidence."
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Barbara Walters Gave Sherri Shepherd Good Advice
Shepherd was on 'The View' from 2007 to 2014.
Despite the late journalist — who died in 2022 at age 93 — being "hard" on the Sherri host, she appreciated the advice Walters gave.
"She was like, 'Read a book, know why you're saying what you're saying, to defend what you're saying.' It's okay if you fall, it's okay to make a mistake. That's what I learned," Shepherd said.
Sherri Shepherd Worried Barbara Walters Would Fire Her
The 'Sherri' host recalled her fear of getting fired after she told Joy Behar about Walters' hookup with Richard Pryor.
A few years ago, Shepherd admitted on Watch What Happens Live that she worried she would be fired from the show when she found out about one of Walters' secret hookups.
"The late Paul Mooney [told her about it]. We were talking, and he said … he walked in or peeked through the door and … he said that Richard Pryor and Barbara Walters were intimate," the Think Like a Man star spilled.
Shepherd only shared the gossip with Joy Behar.
"I told her everything, and as soon as Barbara walked in the next day, Joy goes, 'Oh, you're schlepping Richard Pryor!" Shepherd recalled. "And I was like, I just got the job! I'm gonna get fired."
