The Wendy Williams Show had not really been The Wendy Williams Show for some time when a decision came down to cancel her longtime daytime talk show. It will be replaced, as had been rumored previously, with a talk show hosted by Sherri Shepherd, a TV personality and actress known for projects like Mr. Iglesias and The View. In the time since, both Williams and Shepherd have spoken out, but now the latter is speaking out about her predecessor’s legacy.
During a recent appearance opposite Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live, the longtime nighttime TV host offered his congrats and then offered a nice compliment, telling the new Sherri host she’s consistently been one of his funniest guests. She has a lot of experience with talks shows, of course; as noted prior, she was on The View’s panel for a whopping eight years.
She doesn’t take her upcoming hosting duties lightly, however, thanking Wendy Williams for letting her “fill in” during the uncertain period in which the talk show host was missing in action of the last several months. When Cohen asked what Sherri Shepherd admired about Williams, she was really candid with her answer.
Oh my gosh, she made her own path. Like what Wendy does, nobody can recreate. None of the guest hosts, that is specific; Wendy created that to spill the tea. You know she’d sit there and be like, ‘You know what I’m talking about.’ So I love that and I love her fearlessness. That’s something that I want to emulate and keep going. You know, so she did, she opened up a lot of doors.
Not only does Sherri Shepherd have nice things to say about Wendy Williams, she also kind of gives a little bit of a hint about how her own show may pay homage to what came before her. Shepherd said on WWHL that “she’s up there with the greats” in regards to her predecessor.
Insofar as The Wendy Williams Show goes, the show had been running since 2008, but Wendy Williams hadn’t appeared in an episode of the series since last TV season. She left in July of 2021 for what we thought was a standard summer TV break, but she never came back and delays kept being announced through the fall and winter. We’ve seen health updates from her son and she’s spoken through representatives, but a lot of what’s been going on with the talk host has been shrouded in mystery.
Wendy Williams’ Statement After News Her Show Was Ending Broke
Williams did reach out through her legal team after Lionsgate’s Debmar-Mercury – the producers behind her series – made the decision to go in a different direction for the 2022-2023 TV season, reportedly without working with Wendy Williams. The statement read that she basically “understands” why this had to happen, though it’s still unclear what all is going on behind-the-scenes Williams’ personal life.
It’s been a challenging time for Wendy as she deals with her health issues. She is incredibly grateful to Debmar-Mercury, to Sherri and everybody else who has supported the show through this time. She, more than anyone, understands the reality of syndicated television — you can’t go to the marketplace and sell a show that’s the ’Maybe Wendy Show. She understands why this decision was made from a business point of view, and she has been assured by Debmar-Mercury that should her health get to a point where she can host again and should her desire be that she hosts again that she would be back on TV at that time.
Meanwhile, reports have broken that Wendy Williams’ bank is fighting to have her marked as an “incapacitated person” so that “her affairs are properly handled” moving forward. For her part, Sherri Shepherd will finish out the year as the host of The Wendy Williams Show before embarking on her own journey moving forward. We wish them both only positive things to come.
