Yahoo Sports Sherri Shepherd apologizes after asking recovering alcoholic Elizabeth Vargas to 'get drunk' with her
Sherri Shepherd is apologizing after she received criticism online for making several jokes about alcohol during an interview with sober news personality Elizabeth Vargas on Thursday's broadcast of her Sherri talk show.
"I'm going to take you to the bar, we're going to drink, we're going to have a drink," Shepherd told Vargas while the pair discussed the trials of motherhood. Vargas, who has been open about her past struggles with alcoholism, responded by saying that she'll "Have my classic club soda with cranberry juice, but you can pound some shots."
The host told Vargas that she was "no fun," but would take her out anyway. "You and me, we're going to be at the bar going, 'It's not news tonight!' That's what we've got to do."
Sherri show Elizabeth Vargas and Sherri Shepherd
Later in the interview, Shepherd again proposed the idea of going out to get intoxicated with Vargas after she the host suggested that her guest write a second book in her free time.
"One day, after you do NewsNation and iCrime, when we go to the bar and we get drunk and have a good time and we end up talking to some people," Shepherd said before Vargas interrupted her: "You get drunk. I'll be your designated driver," she replied. Shepherd continued, "You come home and write a fictional book with a lot of sex. Crime with a lot of sex!"
During the episode, several viewers fired off tweets calling out the host for pushing a recovering alcoholic to drink, with some demanding an apology.
@sherrieshepherd @fox know you didn't mean it but you owe Elizabeth Vargas an apology! We all know her past troubles with drinking yet you kept inviting her to drink! APOLOGIZE!
— KeepLiving (@lifeisgolden23) June 1, 2023
Vargas told EW in a statement that the host did apologize to her after the show after the unintentional faux pas.
"Sherri called to apologize –she was very gracious. She just didn't know. It's not a big deal. I was not at all upset," the NewsNation host said in a statement.
Shepherd also shared her apologies with EW: "Sometimes when you're doing live TV, you make mistakes. Today that happened during my Elizabeth Vargas interview and I'm sorry for that. She was very gracious about it in the moment and on the phone when I called her to apologize afterwards. And she is looking forward to returning next season."
Vargas has long been open about her history with alcohol, including in a 2016 interview with Diane Sawyer. She opened up to Sawyer about a particularly low point in her life, when she went on a family vacation in 2012.
"That was our big vacation, and my idea of a vacation was to empty the mini bar by drinking everything in it," Vargas said. She also recalled drinking before a high-profile on-camera interview at ABC. Eventually, she entered rehab. "I would die for my children, Diane, but I couldn't stop drinking for my children."
Sherri airs weekdays in syndication. Check your local listings for showtimes in your area.
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