UPDATE 6/11/25, 10:15 a.m. ET: Sherri Shepherd has officially confirmed which Hollywood star allegedly confronted her at a recent Broadway performance.
During an appearance on The Breakfast Club, Shepherd revealed that the previously “unnamed” actress who approached her at Othello earlier this year was Nia Long. “I don’t know who Nia Long had me confused with,” she quipped, insisting that “the only time” she ever spoke about Long was in a supportive manner amid her split from ex Ime Udoka. “[I said] she deserves to have a good man to be with her.”
She continued: “I think Nia Long, maybe, confused me with someone … I have no idea who she thought was shading her, but it was not me. I have no beef with Nia Long. I’m a fan of hers. We’re grown women, we’re the same age.”
Shepherd emphasized that she was “confused” by the interaction more than anything but extended an invitation to Long to go on her talk show and “clear it up.” (Us reached out to Long for comment.)
Original story below:
Sherri Shepherd had a night out on Broadway and didn’t expect to spark a feud with another star.
“We were out, we don’t go out a lot but we were out in the streets last night because we saw the most amazing show on Broadway,” Shepherd, 57, said on the Monday, March 24, episode of her eponymous talk show. “Last night, we went to the opening of Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal’s show Othello.”
Shepherd and her cohost Jawn Murray were invited to the show by pals Kandi Burruss and her husband Todd Tucker, who served as producers for the play. Othello’s opening night brought out a lot of big names including Jennifer Lopez, Angela Bassett, Samuel L. Jackson, former President Joe Biden and more.
While Shepherd was enjoying a nice night out at the theatre, the talk show host claimed she was approached by an “unnamed celebrity” and the pair had a tense exchange.
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“Let me tell y’all something, I get along with everybody. I really do,” she said. “So I’m standing there talking to [Ellis’ wife] Khadeen [Joseph] and [former football player] Devale Ellis and Devale Ellis’ sister. So this unnamed celebrity actress — who shall remain nameless — I’m standing there talking [and] somebody grabbed my arms and they forcefully turned me around.”
Shepherd continued: “So I’m in a good mood so I go ‘Hi what’s going on? Cause I know her and she says to me, ‘You’ve been shading me a lot.’”
Shepherd shared that was “really confused” by where this thought came from. The talk show host denied shading the anonymous person who allegedly walked away in the middle of the confrontation.
“First of all, I know who I shade because I don’t shade many people. It might be one person I shade and I have never shaded this unnamed celebrity,” she said on Monday. “She came up to me in front of everybody going ‘You shaded me’ and then she [walked] off.”
After the exchange, Shepherd shared that she was “really mad” and wanted to continue the conversation.
“I went to the bathroom during intermission and I stood there for 15 minutes waiting for a meeting in the ladies’ room,” she shared. “You don’t get to pull me and turn me around like we’re in a dag on cartoon and then walk away.”
While Shepherd waited, she says the unnamed celebrity never appeared at the restroom. So Shepherd decided to address the situation publicly on her show.
“So I would say to [the] unnamed celebrity because you think I shaded you, which means you watch my show, I don’t know who you think I am,” she said to the camera. “I think you get me confused with somebody like the bloggers or influencers ’cause I know I didn’t shade you. Matter of fact when something scandalous did come up about you, I was on your side when it happened.”
Shepherd did not reveal the name of the person but alleged that they have “known each other for a long time.” She subsequently invited the star to appear on the talk show so they could talk out the issue.
“Come sit on my couch so we can talk about it,” she quipped. “And you know who you are.”
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Murray, who witnessed the incident, shared that he had never seen Shepherd so mad before. He joked that the situation could have turned into a “Broadway battle.”
“I ain’t never seen you ready to fight before,” he confessed. “I was like, ‘Who is this woman? She’s ready to fight.’”
Shepherd explained that while she’s a “sweet” and “praying person” she’s not to be messed with because she grew up in Chicago. Murray gave another hint to the mystery star’s identity as he quipped that the person might also be from “Chicago too.”
“I love it, two Chicago broads,” she said. “We definitely got to talk.”
