> At a Glance
> – Sherri Shepherd backs Jenny McCarthy’s claim that The View baited her with light topics, then went full politics
> – McCarthy says she signed on to chat Dancing with the Stars, not hostage-ransom policy debates
> – Shepherd reveals producers put glasses on McCarthy to make her “look like she knows politics”
> – Why it matters: Rare inside look at how daytime-TV casting promises can flip overnight
Sherri Shepherd is corroborating Jenny McCarthy’s viral takedown of The View, admitting on her own talk show that producers lured McCarthy with fluffy segments and then “switched it to politics.”
The Bait-and-Switch
Shepherd told her Jan. 8 studio audience that McCarthy arrived for season 17 expecting to dish about The Bachelor and DWTS. Instead, she was handed briefing packets on U.S. hostage negotiations.
> Shepherd recalled McCarthy barging into her dressing room:
> “Jenny came in just like that. She goes, ‘Sherri, oh my God, what am I gonna do?’ I said, ‘What are we gonna do!'”
Focus groups had begged for less political fighting, Shepherd added, so executives hired McCarthy to keep things “chill and more fun.” Within two weeks the mandate reversed.
The Glasses & the Library Look
Producers tried to retrofit McCarthy’s image, Shepherd says:
- Put her in glasses to appear policy-savvy
- Dressed her like a “sexy librarian”
- Asked her to opine on global ransom debates
> Shepherd joked:
> “How do you have Playmate of the Year looking conservative?”
Shared Pain
Shepherd, who joined in 2007, says she faced the same pivot once Barack Obama declared his candidacy. Hired to chat about single-mom life, she suddenly had to debate super-delegates while admitting she “didn’t even vote” in earlier years because of her strict religious upbringing.
> Still, Shepherd calls the experience:
> “The best, hardest, most terrifying, most crying-filled” job she ever loved.
Key Takeaways
- McCarthy served only season 17 (2013-2014) before vowing never to return
- Shepherd remains close to Behar, Goldberg, and Hasselbeck, calling them a “sisterhood”
- Both women say producers broke the original casting promise
The revelation underlines how quickly network priorities-and on-air talent-can swing when news cycles heat up.
