Sherri Shepherd’s Ex Husbands: Meet The Men The Talk Show Host Was Married To

View gallery

Sherri Shepherd is one of the most beloved women on TV. The comedian, 55, has had a wide variety of roles on popular shows like The Jamie Foxx Show, 30 Rock, and Less Than Perfect. Besides her acting work, she’s also been a host on a variety of shows, like The View. Most recently, her fans have been able to watch her on her new self-titled talk series Sherri, which premiered in September.

Throughout her career, Sherri’s been married twice. Her first husband was Jeff Tarpley, 56, and her second marriage was to Lamar Sally. She’s also a mom to two sons: one from each marriage. In recent years, Sherri has been single, but she revealed she’s looking to meet someone new in a June 2022 appearance on The View. “I’m single and ready to mingle, but no marriage!” she quipped. “I’ve been celibate for four and a half years!”

Find out everything you need to know about Sherri’s two marriages here.

Jeff Tarpley

Sherri and Jeff tied the knot in 2001, and were married until 2009, when their divorce was finalized. Their son Jeffrey, 17, was born in 2005. Like Sherri, Jeff was also an actor, although he appears to have stepped away from the business. He actually appeared in one episode of The Jamie Foxx Show, which Sherri starred in, in 2000. He also acted in the films Delivery and Dead Man on Campus. Some of his other roles included short films, with his last role being listed as a 2004 short, per IMDb. 

Sherri and Jeff first split in 2006, but appeared to try to work through their issues, per The Things. She allegedly filed for divorce when she found photos of him being intimate with another woman, according to TMZ. After the divorce, the two parents engaged in a custody battle over their son. Despite the legal battles, she did reveal that she tried to maintain a good image of Jeff for her son in an interview on The Wendy Williams Show. “For me, I always make sure Jeffrey’s father is a hero in Jeffrey’s eyes. Because all of the craziness has nothing to do with Jeffrey,” she said, per The Sun.

Lamar Sally

After her split from Jeff, Sherri married Lamar Sally in 2011, but they separated after three years in 2014. After their split, they welcomed a son Lamar, Jr., 8, via surrogate in August 2014. The former View host reflected on her second marriage during an interview on D.L. Hughley’s radio show in 2020. She revealed that some of her celebrity pals and co-workers, like Steve Harvey, Whoopi Goldberg, and the late Barbara Walters, had told her they weren’t fans of Lamar, and wouldn’t come to her wedding. “I was in New York, doing The View, and I was lonely,” she said.

After the interview, Lamar clapped back in a statement to TMZ. “I will not have you lie that the only reason you married me and brought our son into the world was because you were lonely or horny. We had a good marriage and our son was conceived out of love from both parents,” he said.

After the split, Sherri revealed that she only had a child with Lamar via surrogacy, because she was afraid of the relationship ending. “There are consequences to everything, but I was scared to say, ‘That’s not going to work for me. I don’t want that,'” she told People. Amid the legal battle, Sherri tried to file paperwork to have herself removed as LJ’s mom, but the court ruled that she would still be listed as his mom, and ordered her to pay child support. In 2016, Lamar requested an increase in child support payments, per People.