Sherri Shepherd Talks About ‘Sherri’ at the AAFCA Awards

Sherri Shepherd wasn’t a nominee at the 13th AAFCA Awards on Wednesday night, but she certainly had the look of a winner.

Shepherd was on hand at the annual awards show — which celebrates the best in film each year — to present the best actress award to her “Chi-town sister” Jennifer Hudson, who the organization’s near-100 members honored for playing Aretha Franklin in “Respect.”

“I’m so in awe of her, that she has reinvented herself but she’s still singing those soulful gospel songs, then she’s pop, then she can get in there and act her butt off and did an amazing job in ‘Respect,’”Shepherd told VarietyHudson on the red-carpet outside the SLS Hotel, Beverly Hills. “Now the girl’s got her own talk show — welcome to the block, sis! — so, it’s very, very exciting to support her in this manner.”

Of course, Hudson isn’t the only one with a new show. Shepherd was also basking in the glow of her own big news — that she’s launching “Sherri”This fall. And, as Hudson and Shepherd’s join “The Tamron Hall Show,”She noted that Black women dominate this sector of the business.

Shepherd’s new syndicated series from Lionsgate’s Debmar-Mercury will take over the Fox O&O time slots that are currently held by “Wendy Williams Show.”Shepherd made the announcement while Shepherd was hosting. “Wendy Williams,” she shared with audiences that she’d long dreamed of hosting her own show, but the opportunity never came. Her message to women pursuing their entertainment dreams: “If you’re a spiritual person like me, you’ve really got to trust His timing.”

“I’m not going to say it’s not going to be without hurts,”She elaborated. “Because, for 18 years, I heard people tell me I couldn’t sit on a couch by myself and talk. I was in the running for many a show and then someone else would get it.”

So, instead of fielding more suggestions to host cooking shows and other projects that didn’t fit, Shepherd said she “hung those dreams up with the fine china and focused on my acting.”

You now have the chance to host “Sherri,”She is now living her dream. “But God brought that back; that was not me,”She made the observation. “That was 18 years of him saying, ‘I need to season you. I need you to go through some hurts. I need you to be able to have gone through the highs and the lows, so that you can inspire other women so that when you walk in that room, you have stuff up underneath you.’ I see it now.”

Shepherd’s new show might not premiere for a few months, but she has a lineup of potential guests in mind for her debut week.

“Michelle Obama — my fellow Chi-Town sis — you doing anything? If you want to bring your husband by?”She shared. “Idris [Elba], what you doing? Come in that first week. Oprah, I’m about to call you. I want them all coming. Method Man, come on, you’ve reinvented yourself. You look amazing — I love you on ‘Godfather of Harlem’ and ‘Power Book II: Ghost.’ I’ve already manifested it.”

The night’s big winner was “The Harder They Fall”Filmmaker Jeymes Samuel, who hopped up to the microphone throughout the evening to collect his Netflix Western’s heap of awards, including prizes for best picture, best director, best music (shared with Jay-Z and Kid Cudi) and best ensemble (for which he was joined onstage by stars Deon Cole, Edi GathegiAnd Kevin Phillips).

Accepting honors was also possible “King Richard”Stars Aunjanue Ellis(Best supporting actress) Saniyya Sidney(breakout actor), and emerging director winner Reinaldo Marcus Green; “Don’t Look Up”Filmmaker Adam McKay(who flew over from the DTLA premiere for his HBO Max series) “Winning Time”To pick up his award. Will Smith was the winner of best actor and Corey Hawkins was the honoree for supporting actor.

Special Achievement Honors were given to “Attica”Filmmaker Stanley Nelson (best documentary); “Who We Are”Filmmaker Jeffrey Robinson (best independent feature); the MPA’s John Gibson(The Salute to Excellence Award); composer Terence Blanchard(the Innovator Award); producer, and co-founder of Hidden Empire Film Group Roxanne Avent-Taylor(the Building Change Award); Tri-Star Pictures president Nicole BrownThe Cinema Vanguard Award was accepted by, on behalf of Sony.

The event was hosted in part by Charlamagne Tha GodAnd Alesha ReneéWith presenters, including the AAFCA President Gil Robertson, Chanté Adams, Lee Daniels, Jay Ellis, Travon Free, Cassandra Freeman, Meagan Good, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Shaka King, Karen Sharpe Kramer, Franklin Leonard, Geffri Maya, Algee SmithAnd DeWanda Wise.