Nick Cannon is pledging his loyalty to Wendy Williams after being asked to endorse Sherri Sheperd‘s upcoming show, “Sherri,” reports Page Six. The talk show will premiere this fall in replacement of “The Wendy Williams Show.” Reportedly, Debmar-Mercury production company asked the Wild N’ Out” creator to support “Sherri.” However, a source claims Cannon is too grateful to ever support Shepherd over Wendy.
“Nick Cannon would not endorse her out of allegiance to Wendy,” the source told the outlet. “He wasn’t cool with how they handled him and how they abruptly canceled his show and hustled everyone out of there and took their computers and s–t.”
Wendy, who hosted “The Wendy Williams Show,” reportedly is responsible for giving Cannon his big break that led to hosting his own self-titled show. However, Debmar-Mercury canceled it after only six months due to low ratings and viewerships, according to Page Six, which broke the news in March. The 41-year-old reportedly feels “indebted and grateful to Wendy for his “big endeavor,” according to the source, who said his loyalty to Wendy is “undeniable.”
“[Debmar-Mercury] was definitely relying on Wendy’s numbers to propel Nick’s numbers, and they placed a bet with Fox once [the network] got rid of ‘The Real,’ ” the source claims. “They assured Fox they would get their numbers, and they failed miserably.”
However, an insider from production said, “It’s not true and Nick was always a pleasure and business professional.”
“The Wendy Williams Show” has ended and the “Sherri” show is preparing to make its debut on daytime television. The transition has been rather bumpy for Williams, who has dealt with ongoing health issues and financial problems over the last year. And after months of several guest hosts, producers announced that Sherri Sheppard was on track to get her own show.
But fans of the show and Wendy Williams are calling out Cannon for his lack of support for another talk show host, let alone another black woman.
One person said, “That’s not fair. There’s room for everyone. Oprah paved the way for Wendy and other black women. Suppose someone would have said that to you. Oprah would root Sherri, not be bitter. Man stop! You and Wendy are ridiculous.”
One person provided screenshots after they noticed, “The Nick Cannon Show’s YouTube channel has been scrubbed and repurposed as the “Sherri Show” channel, leaving fans who never subscribed to her, confused.”
Some social media users actually have expressed that they foresee a less-than-successful launch and possibly low show ratings for “Sherri.”
Another person tweeted, “…Based on logistics and Nick Cannon’s decline if Sherri doesn’t see how she’s headed for disaster, she’s in for one heck of a ride.”
To build up the hype around her show, Shepherd released a behind-the-scenes trailer on the YouTube page “Sherri.” She shared footage from a photo shoot and revealed the name of the show’s social media platforms, @sherrishowtv.
“It is my lifelong dream to have my own show and it’s finally happening. I am so excited to welcome you to the official kickoff,” she said. “This is my time.”
More Stories from Our Partners:
