Sherri Shepherdwon’t forget her last interaction withBarbara WaltersonThe View.
During a segment of her talk showSherri,The Viewalum recounted the moment Walters packed her bags andleft the set of her brainchild showfor the last time.
Shepherd said Walters was just about to get in an elevator when the journalism trailblazer put her hand on Shepherd’s face. “She said, ‘Dear, I love you,'” Shepherd recalled, prompting a group “aw” from theSherriaudience.
“The doors opened and she stepped into the elevator and I started crying,” Shepherd continued. “Y’all know I’m a crier. I started boohoo-ing. And as the elevator doors close, she [yells back] ‘What are you crying for?'”
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Walters died in Decemberat the age of 93. She was the first woman ever to anchor a news show in the 1970s, and paved the way for women in journalism. Shepherd honored Walters’ incredible achievements in news, as well as the ways she taught Shepherd to own her authority.
Shepherd asked no questions during the segment, frustrated that she couldn’t get a word in. In a debrief of the segment, Walters was stern but supportive about Shepherd’s silence. “She said, ‘Dear, I’m gonna say this. I’m gonna say it one time. You have to speak up or you will get left behind.'”
Shepherd reflected, “I was just ready to follow the rules. I was a nice girl — and I learned that from Barbara, you have to jump in. You have to speak.”
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Shepherd also praised Walters forcreating a “sisterhood"onThe Viewin conversation withEntertainment Tonight. “When I heard the news, I immediately textedJoy [Behar], and immediately textedWhoopi [Goldberg]andElisabeth [Hasselbeck]texted me, so, we were all on the phone,” Shepherd said. “That’s a sisterhood that just, the bonds never break.”
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Sherriairs weekdays (check local listings).
source: people.com
