Has Sherri Shepherd Been Fired from the View

The Internet is busy with rumors that Sherri Shepherd, co-host of The View, is being fired from The View, in part, because of Barbara Walters. Bloggers like WhozHe, suggest Sherri Shepherd may not be fired yet, but is in the process of being fired from The View as an opt-out clause is sought in her contract. Some speculate Sherri Shepherd is fired due to her public admission that she's had several abortions and because she stated in a magazine interview that she hopes co-host and producer of The View, Barbara Walters, gets saved (i.e. professes Jesus as her Savior).

Even though it's rumored that information of Sherri Shepherd being fired originally came from a staff member at The View, it's still difficult to believe. For one, Barbara Walters has flatly denied to Extra that Sherri Shepherd has been fired. Ok, I know what you're thinking. Barbara Walters also said that Star Jones wasn't fired and, well, we all know the rest of that story. So maybe Barbara Walters' word on who isn't fired isn't the best for refuting rumors, but legitimate press outlets have also recently reported that the entire cast of The View recently gathered for a group photograph in preparation for the upcoming Fall season. If Sherri Shepherd has been fired involving a clash with Barbara Walters, why is she in the upcoming promo photos for this season? Since Sherri Shepherd was cast late in the show's last season, her picture never appeared in previous group promo photos. This time, however, news outlets report that the photo includes Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Elizabeth Hasselbeck, Barbara Walters and Sherri Shepherd as a group and was supposedly photographed at roughly the same time rumors that Shepherd was fired took on full speed.

Sherri Shepherd, as an actress and comedienne, guest hosted on The View during the infamous Rosie O'Donnell vs. Elizabeth Hasselbeck on-air fight. Soon afterwards, Rosie O'Donnell left The View and was replaced by Whoopi Goldberg. Sherri Shepherd was later added to the cast shortly thereafter. Since becoming an official co-host of The View, Sherri Shepherd has been lauded as being the personable, funny, girlfriend type that, seemingly, helps balance out a table of diverse women. For Sherri Shepherd to be fired after just one abbreviated season on The View is hard to imagine. I seriously doubt, also, that Barbara Walters would want to be entangled in another media frenzy over a co-host being fired after the fall out which followed after Star Jones surprised everyone by proclaiming that she had been secretly fired.

Sherri Shepherd has spoken many times about her faith on The View and Barbara Walters has never appeared to want to silence her. Though it was during an interview in a faith-based magazine that she made the comments she did regarding having multiple abortions and her concern over Barbara Walters' soul, I can't imagine that this interview was all too shocking to her co-hosts, namely, Barbara Walters. Since Sheri Shepherd is rather vocal about her faith, it would stand to reason that she would want Barbara Walters (and others) to join her.

As for Sherri Shepherd's admission of having multiple abortions, The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg showed up once at a pro-choice rally waving a coat hanger as a show of support for legalized abortions. Whoopi also regularly spoke about a 14 year old aborting a girl with a coat hanger in her early stand-up act, as well as she's admitted to sleeping with over 50 men herself. While the latter has nothing to do with abortions, Whoopi Goldberg is clearly pro-choice and her number of approximate sexual partners suggests that she believes a woman is free to do what she wants with her body without regard to social stigma. Likewise, Barbara Walters has also admitted to having an affair with a married man in her book, Audition, demonstrating that she bears no shame in publicizing things that some people may have moral issues with. Simply put, none of these women are defined by social expectations. None are perfect and none claim to be. I cannot imagine that Sherri Shepherd speaking as candidly about her own life and her own opinions would lead to Barbara Walters being angry enough to move toward her being fired from The View.

With The View having been on sabbatical for the month of August, we'll have to tune in to the premiere of the new season on September 3^rd to find out if Sherri Shepherd has been fired or if this is another one of those Internet rumors that spirals out of control as so many others do among web gossipers.

With The View having been the subject of past controversies between Barbara Walters, Star Jones and Rosie O'Donnell, I would think that both Barbara Walters and The View would want to keep the focus off of the personal quibbles amongst the cast and focus now, instead, on moving forward toward another trouble free season at long last. But if Sherri's seat is vacant this September and Barbara Walters looks us square in the eye and says that Sherri wasn't fired, but got a better gig elsewhere, we'll all know what really happened (wink wink).

Sources:

WhozHe, SGL Universe: Sherri Shepherd Leaving The View? WhozHe.blogspot.com

Actor Whoopi Goldberg Held Up Wire Coat Hangers, A Symbol Of Women's Lives Lost Due To Illegal Abortions. www.NOW.org