Sherri Shepherd thanks “Girls Trip” director Will Packer for helping her land her first gig after her departure from “The View.”
The 55-year-old confirmed she was leaving the morning talk show in 2014 after rumors that she was allegedly fired. Shepherd was a co-host on the show for seven years before moving on.
Two years later, the daytime talk show host appeared in Packer’s action film, “Ride Along 2,” and the director shared a hilarious story about the Shepherd and the film’s lead star Kevin Hart.
Packer referred to a picture from a scene in the film that featured Hart and Shepherd standing face to face. In the film, Shepherd plays a celebrity wedding planner helping Hart and his on-screen wife, Tika Sumpter, plan their big day. Shephard and Hart’s characters repeatedly go at it over everything, but in one particular scene, their arguments were about flower and seating arrangements and whose vision would look better for his wedding day.
“Kevin is actually standing on a box, right? Because in real life, Kevin comes about right up to the Sherris, you know what I’m sayin’?” Packer recalled talking about Shepherd’s chest.
“And so, in the scene, they get at it with each other, and Sherri kept bumping Kevin with the Sherris. And Kevin Hart didn’t stand a chance, ‘cuz the Sherris are serious. I heard you learned that from Judy Blume,” he joked.
Shepherd also shared a heartfelt thank you for Packer casting her in the film, which was her first acting role after leaving “The View.”
“I wanna thank you for casting me in ‘Ride Along 2’, Will,” said Shepherd. “Because it came at a time, they released me from ‘The View,’ and I was sittin’ in front of my mirror going, ‘God, what am I gonna do? Are people in Hollywood even gonna remember that I’m an actress?’ And literally, you called me at 2 that mornin’ you said, ‘Hey, lady … I got this role in my movie. Would you like to do it?'”
Packer responded, “Absolutely. We will never forget you, Sherri. You have a lot of fans in Hollywood, I am one of them. You are legendary. This is your moment.”
The host of “Sherri” went on to congratulate Packer on the $100 million success of his other film “Girls Trip,” which the comedienne revealed that she’d auditioned for.
After Shepherd asked if she would be a good fit for “Girl Trip 2,” the director looked to the audience and asked, “Would Sherri be good in Girls Trip?” It’s a lot of energy for you, Sherri.”
He said, “It’s a lot of energy for you, Sherri,” before sharing that Shepherd was great during her audition. Packer then proceeded to set up an impromptu recreation of Shepherd auditioning for the film. He chose the scene where Jada Pinkett Smith‘s character, Lisa, took a zip line over the crowd to beat the bathroom line but gets stuck.
She gets stuck, and while hanging in the air, she ends up peeing on everyone beneath her. Tiffany Haddish‘s character, Diana, comes right behind to push her out of the way and to save her friend from embarrassment.
“I didn’t know you was into golden showers girl, that’s my jam,” said Diana in the scene before unleashing her own “golden shower” on the crowd.
“You’re on Bourbon Street. Tiffany Haddish is on a zip line. And she just let it go everywhere and it’s all on you. Go!”
Without skipping a beat, Shepherd said, “B—h, I’ma beat yo’ ass! You done peed on me.”
Fans will be excited to know that the sequel to “Girls Trip” is currently in the works with Pinkett Smith, Haddish, Queen Latifah, and Regina Hall.
“We’re closer than we’ve ever been,” he said of the sequel. “We are writing the script right now for ‘Girls Trip 2.’ It is absolutely coming.”
“Girls Trip 2” will reportedly follow all four ladies on their vacation to Ghana, Africa.
