" I exclaim all the way to the elevator because they told me I had to get my stuff from my trailer … snot and everything . "
You might recognize Sherri Shepherd from Max’s hit comedyThe Sex Lives of College Girls,where she plays Evette Chase — aka Whitney’s hilariously blunt mom who is also a US senator.
Well, on a recent episode of herdaytime talk show,Sherri was asked by a fan if she’d ever been fired. She replied, “I’ve only been fired two times in this industry.”
Sherri said she was cast to play thebest friendto Kym Whitley’s character on ABC’sMy Wife and Kids. However, she quickly realized that her acting style was very different to her scene partner’s, and she found it difficult to keep up with Kym.
“We’re very different. Kym is very loud and I’m more of a straight person. They kept asking, ‘Can you match the energy of Kym Whitley?’ and I was like ‘Nobody can!’ I could see everybody was always quiet every time we did the rehearsals in front of Damon,” Sherri said.
Sherri went on to say that the firing happened at the most inconvenient time — on her lunch break. Damon and a group of other producers approached her to deliver the bad news as she was heading to get some more food.
“We all went to lunch at the commissary and I’m sitting at the table with [costars] Tisha Campbell and Kym Whitley…I take my tray to get some more food and all the producers of the show walked up to me and said: ‘It’s not working out, Sherri.’ I was like ‘What do you mean? Are you firing me?’ and they said ‘Yes, we’re going to have to let you go.’ I started crying right there,” Sherri said.
“There were a bunch of celebrities in the commissary and I don’t remember who it was but they asked, ‘Are you okay?’ and I said, ‘No, Damon Wayans just fired me! I needed this money!’ Kym was like ‘Girl, I would give you my job!’ and I replied, ‘Well give me your job, bitch!'”
“I cried all the way to the elevator because they told me I had to get my stuff from my trailer,” Sherri told the audience.
“I saw Damon, like, years later…and every time I see him, I say the same thing: ‘You know you fired me?’ And every time he says to me: ‘Well look at you now.'”
Sherri is set to continue herreoccurring guest starring role in Season 3ofThe Sex Lives of College Girls, premiering in late 2023 or early 2024.
