Sherri Shepherd’s Son Jeffrey Jr., 18, Poses With Mom In Sweet Photo Before Prom

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Sherri Shepherd, 56, was so proud of her son Jeffrey Jr., 18, when she sent him off to his high school prom with his date. The daytime talk show host shared pictures of her teenage son in his suit and tie before he left the house for the prom in Manhattan on June 10. Sherri proudly posed in the house with Jeffrey Jr., who has special needs. Alongside the footage, Sherri revealed in her caption that she got emotional during the milestone moment. “‘Mom why are you crying? It’s just my prom!’ Watching my son put a corsage on his date’s wrist and helping her into the car… whew I think I did alright! #promnight,” Sherri wrote.

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Sherri and her ex-husband Jeffrey Tarpley‘s son looked so handsome for his prom. Jeffrey Jr. wore a black suit with a blue tie and a matching kerchief. In one photo, Sherri smiled at the camera as she pinned a flower on her son’s suit jacket. She also brushed Jeffrey Jr.’s hair in the bathroom as he got ready for the big night. Sherri had on a pink shirt with white cargo pants in the photos.

The Sherri host welcomed her son in April 2005, four years after she married Jeffrey Jr.’s father. Sherri and Jeffrey’s only child together was born with special needs. “He’s got developmental delays,” Sherri told People in 2018.  “I know that God created this little boy, who’s so yummy and special, and I have to accept him just in his little imperfect perfections. He’s perfectly imperfect in every way.”

After Sherri and Jeffrey divorced in 2009, they engaged in a dramatic custody battle in 2014. Jeffrey filed a petition at the time for temporary physical custody of Jeffrey Jr, claiming Sherri was neglecting him because of her hectic schedule. However, a judge ultimately ruled in Sherri’s favor, and she’s been a loving parent to her son ever since. For example, Sherri opened up in 2022 about how moving to NYC for her talk show would affect Jeffrey Jr.

“It has been hard for me letting him jump because I want to protect him from everything that could hurt him,” she wrote alongside a snap of the mother/son duo. “But as he says goodbye to me and walks to the A train to Queens with his friends to see the Mets play, I say a prayer to the One who created him that as he spreads his wings, God will be there to catch him,” Sherri added. “This world is cruel but I know that God knows Jeffrey much better than me and I am trusting that within the parameters of his ‘special needs’, he will thrive.”

Sherri has a second son, Lamar Jr., 8, with her second ex-husband, writer Lamar Sally. Lamar Jr. was conceived using Sally’s sperm and a donor egg, so Sherri technically isn’t biologically related to the child. Lamar Jr. has been raised by his father, and Sherri has never met him, according to People.