Sherri Shepherd on her Twitter tiff with Meghan McCain: 'We probably would have worked it out if I was on "The View"'

Ethan Alter
·Senior Writer, Yahoo Entertainment

A new season of The View started yesterday, and with it came the first Meghan McCain-generated kerfuffle of the long-running ABC talk show’s 23rd season. Since joining the show in 2017, the daughter of the late Arizona senator, John McCain, has become a reliable source of controversy for her staunchly conservative takes on the issues of the day — so much so that she reportedly considered leaving the show. Behind the scenes, McCain has experienced some friction with View hosts past and present, including Joy Behar and Sherri Shepherd. In July 2018, Shepherd critiqued McCain’s View persona on an episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, saying that the new host needed to “lighten up a little.” That led McCain to issue a response on Twitter, and Shepherd followed up with her own explanation.

Speaking with Yahoo Entertainment recently, the actress and comedian indicates that their Twitter tiff is water under the bridge, though she stops short of saying that they’re back in each other’s good graces. “I don’t know necessarily that we made up,” Shepherd remarks. “We had a difference of opinion. We probably could have worked it out if I was on The View — it would have been something to talk about. We’re two grown women, and everyone has a difference of opinion. We’re not going to die; the day goes on, and we do our thing.”

Besides, Shepherd — whose own stint on The View lasted from 2007 to 2014 — knows first-hand just how bright that public spotlight can be, especially for the newest hosts who take a seat at that table. “I remember talking to Meghan when she first started, [and saying] you have to learn how to insulate yourself from peoples’ comments. Joy Behar told me that when you open your mouth, you’re going to lose half of the audience anyway. You have to realize that you’re affecting more than the people in the audience — there’s somebody out there that agrees with you. You just have to stand firm and be respectful of everybody.”

Since leaving The View five years ago, Shepherd has resumed her acting career, appearing in films like Ride Along 2 and the recent drama Brian Banks. And while she’s occasionally returned to guest host The View, she’s not planning on a permanent stay. “It’s fun when I go back to guest co-host, but it’s almost like going back with an old boyfriend,” she says, laughing. “I do look at Hot Topics and I scream at the TV. I’ll text Whoopi [Goldberg] and she’ll say, ‘Stop texting me!’”

The View airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on ABC.

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