A rep for Sherri Shepherd sent us this statement this afternoon:
“It’s been seven wonderful years on The View and after careful consideration it is time for me to move on. I am extremely grateful to Barbara Walters and Bill Gedde for giving me the opportunity. I look forward to the business opportunities that lay ahead for me and I am incredibly grateful to my View family and my fans for supporting me on this journey.”
Shepherd’s contract was coming up, and the two sides were talking. According to sources with knowledge of the situation, ABC and Shepherd’s camp were “too far apart” on terms of a new deal.
In April, not long before she stepped down as the show’s on-air Den Mom, Barbara Walters — who remains exec producer — said in various interviews that Shepherd “definitely” was coming back next season, as were Jenny McCarthy and Whoopi Goldberg.
ABC declined to comment.
The View has seen its share of co-host changes. Last month, the day before Walters bow out, all 11 The View past and present co-hosts assembled to say so-long, including some who’d left under less than happy circumstances – including Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Rosie O’Donnell.
