Sherri Shepherd is facing the end of her daytime run with gratitude, humor, and a whole lot of fight.
Returning to the purple couch after taking time away due to a COVID diagnosis, the comedian, actress and host opened Monday’s episode by confirming that her syndicated talk show will not be renewed beyond its current season.
“This is a hard morning for all of us here at Sherri,” she told viewers, becoming emotional. “Our show has not been renewed for another season.”
Still, if you know Shepherd, you know she wasn’t going to let the moment pass without centering the community that helped build the show in the first place.
“I’m truly overwhelmed by the outpouring of love that I have received from all of you,” she said. “From the audience to everybody on social media, to people who stop me in the store and still talk to me despite me not having a wig on… I feel every bit of the love that you’ve been sending to me, and thank you so much.”
She continued, “I want to thank you for welcoming me into your homes every single day. I want to thank you for laughing and crying with us. Thank you for supporting my unhealthy obsession with Lenny Kravitz.”
From day one, Shepherd says the mission of the show was simple: joy.
“When I first started, the show was built on one thing, and what I wanted it built on was joy,” she explained. “The intention of this show was always my prayer for you to leave happier than when you came. It has been my dream to have a talk show and I am so grateful I got the chance to do it for four seasons.”
But before anyone starts writing obituaries, Shepherd made it clear she’s not done yet.
“I want to be clear, I’m not ready to throw in the towel on this show just yet,” she said. “We’re going to be airing episodes all through the fall and we’re going to continue to fight to keep the show alive in some way, shape or form.”
“If anybody knows me, they know I’m a fighter,” she added. “I don’t know exactly what it’s going to look like, but I promise I will continue to spread joy.”
In true Sherri fashion, she balanced heart with humor, joking about what could go down during the show’s final stretch of episodes — from a producer threatening to streak on the last day to friend and frequent guest Kim Whitley plotting to swipe items from the green room.
“I got no problem turning Kim Whitley into the authorities,” she laughed. “So I’m saying to all of my guests, don’t come here committing petty crimes.”
Distributor Debmar-Mercury previously confirmed the series will wrap later this year. Original episodes are expected to continue through the fall.
Whatever happens next, Shepherd’s message to her audience was clear: the platform may change, but the purpose won’t.
Joy is still the assignment.