"Rosie O'Donnell gave me everybody's salary and hers, and you've got to pay it forward," Shepherd explained. "You've gotta stick together!"
Sunny Hostin is recalling how Sherri Shepherd helped her advocate for fair pay on "The View."
During an appearance on Shepherd's "The Sherri Show," the 54-year-old television personality opened up about her relationship with the 56-year-old host and how she once helped her fight for her salary when she joined the daytime talk show.
"I don't even know if you remember this, but, when I signed my deal sheet you gave me a call. I don't know how you got my number," Hostin, a co-host of "The View" for seven years recalled. "You were like, 'I heard you're coming on the show,' and I was like, 'Yeah, I'm joining the show.' She was like, 'Did they give you a car stipend?' I was like, 'No.'"
Sunny joined the talk show in 2016 and Sherri departed from the program as a permanent contributor in 2014. While making the transition, the legal correspondent revealed that she reviewed her offer sheet with the "Precious" star over the phone.
"You basically went over your salary for the entire time you were there, and you also gave me [ex-View panelist] Jenny McCarthy's salary," Hostin continued, revealing that their conversation led to her agent requesting additional compensation.
"You got me paid," she said. "You gave me everyone's salaries and I went back to my agent and I was like, 'You did not get me enough money.'"
Shepherd shared that the gesture was passed down from former "View" host Rosie O'Donnell, who also stuck her neck out to review her contract when the actress first joined its ranks in 2007.
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"Rosie O'Donnell gave me everybody's salary and hers, and you've got to pay it forward," Shepherd explained. "You've gotta stick together!"
The "One For The Money" star previously opened up about how she would have had a drastically different salary during her time on "The View" without the comedian's guidance.
"I tell people what I make, if you're doing a talk show … because Rosie O'Donnell did it for me," Shepherd told People in 2018. "She told me what she made so I would know how to go in and negotiate. If Rosie O'Donnell had not told me what her salary was, I would've gotten something so low. I'm not gonna lie, I made a lot of money on The View."
She continued, "So when people do talk shows and they come to me, I say, 'This is what I made, this is what you need to ask for, this is what they will do,' because otherwise you don't know. … Nobody shares, and as women, we have to do that."
"The View" airs weekdays on ABC at 8 a.m. PT.