Sherri Shepherd Says She Made Less Money Than Former Co-Host Jenny McCarthy Despite Being On 'The View' Longer

As AfroTech previously told you, the former co-host of “The View” was the driver in helping Sunny Hostin get better compensation when she arrived on the show years after Shepherd had departed.

“You basically went over your salary for the entire time you were there,” Hostin told Shepherd during an interview on the host’s talk show, “Sherri.” “And you also gave me Jenny McCarthy’s salary.”

Hostin continued: “She got me paid. You gave me everyone’s salary, and I went back to my agent and I was like, ‘You did not get me enough money.'”

While speaking on her talk show, Shepherd emphasized that there is room for everyone to succeed. However, the sentiment may have been overlooked by some.

During her time on “The View,” she learned Jenny McCarthy, her former co-host, had to keep her salary a secret.

According to Shepherd, McCarthy was making more money than her when she joined the show, despite Shepherd being on the show six years longer.

“I was fine with how much I was making until I found out what Jenny was making,” Shepherd explained.

“She could have made much more, but they told her not to say anything to anybody else,” she continued. “So she had to keep her salary a secret ’cause they was trying to get it done. And had I known, I would’ve said to Jenny, ‘Girl, you got all the power because they don’t have anybody else to sit in this chair. They are putting everything on you.’ She could have been making double… When you know something, when you band together, then you can negotiate.”

Shepherd added that she didn’t seek higher pay when she renegotiated her contract during that time because she didn’t feel hopeful that she would receive it. Instead, the situation empowered her to help her peers in the industry, such as Loni Love and Sheryl Underwood, understand their value while approaching contracts.

“I did it because people did that for me,” she said.

To Shepherd, by paying it forward, you create a never-ending cycle that will ultimately ensure the people who come after you will be better positioned.

Rosie O’Donnell did this for Shepherd when she was negotiating her initial contract to join “The View.”

“Rosie took the time to email me and she said, ‘This is what I’m making. This is what the other co-hosts are making, so this is what you should ask for.’ And it changed the game for me.”

Shepherd also gives flowers to Anthony Anderson who gave her a detailed walkthrough on what she should request while she was developing a show.

“Anthony Anderson, I called him and I said ‘Anthony, I’m developing a show,'” she recalled.

“And Anthony Anderson walked me through everything that I should be asking for. So the least I could do is pay it forward because if you pay it forward and they pay it forward, we all can come up together,” she continued.