Barbara Walters not only created and co-hosted “The View,” but she left a lasting impact on Sherri Shepherd, according to an August 2020 People interview.
Shepherd still remembers Walters’ tough love. “I love you,” Shepherd said Walters. “I just need you to read a book, dear, and learn to defend what you believe. And speak up.” Rosie O’Donnell was Rosie’s mentor and she taught her how to negotiate her own salary. “I thank Rosie O’Donnell to this day because when I was being asked to join ‘The View’, they offered me less than Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who had only done ‘Survivor’ and worked for Puma, making the tennis shoes,” Shepherd agreed.
Shepherd also touched on O’Donnell’s salary advice during the September 21 episode of the “Behind the Table” podcast. “She came and she said to me, ‘This is what I’m making. This is what everybody’s making. And this is what you should ask for and these are the perks I’m getting,'” Shepherd recalled O’Donnell’s words. “And I was like, ‘That’s nothing!’ … Because she showed me that and helped guide me I got what I deserved,” Shepherd concluded.