NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Sherri Shepherd apologized for asking Elizabeth Vargas to drink alcohol multiple times with her during her talk show 'Sherri'. “I’m going to take you to the bar, we’re going to drink. We’re going to have a drink,” Shepherd told Vargas.
Vargas is known to have struggled with alcohol and her discomfort with the idea of consuming alcohol is quite evident in her responses to Shepherd. “[I’ll] have my classic club soda with cranberry juice, but you can pound some shots,” she replied. This uncomfortable exchange was also pointed out by many viewers of the show and fans of Vargas which eventually led to the former ‘The View’ host to reflect on it and apologize.
Elizabeth Vargas’ struggle with alcoholism
Vargas struggled with anxiety and panic attacks during the more active years of her career as a TV journalist. Alcohol became an unhealthy coping mechanism for her, resulting in a serious addiction. The two-time Emmy winner sought professional help for the addiction afterward and went through rehab thrice between 2013 and 2014. Ever since then, she has been sober.
Her experience with addiction and rehab led her to host a podcast ‘Heart of the Matter’ and pen a memoir titled ‘Between Breaths: A Memoir of Panic and Addiction’, tracing the struggles of mental health issues and recovery.
Shepherd even jokingly suggested that Vargas write a book when they were discussing the obsession with true crime. Vargas responded, “I already wrote one book and it was hard.”
Shepherd’s unintended mistake and apology
Shepherd quite obviously was not aware of Vargas’ experience and history with alcohol. The talk show host mentioned drinking more than one time during the interview, including a skit in the same episode where she throws a party filled with alcohol.
Vargas responded to her many invitations with subtle and calm refusals, saying that she would stick to her “club soda with cranberry juice” and that she would be Shepherd’s “designated driver instead.” but, of course, the 60-year-old journalist’s hints didn’t quite get through to Shepherd.
In the end, the women did not let the blunder blow out of proportion as Shepherd “graciously” apologized to Vargas both personally and publicly.
“Sometimes when you’re doing live TV, you make mistakes. Today that happened during my Elizabeth Vargas interview and I’m sorry for that,” Shepherd said in the statement, according to Page Six. “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,” she added.
The journalist, in turn, also accepted the apology warmly and said, “She didn’t know. It’s not a big deal. I was not at all upset.”
Shepherd has been hosting 'Sherri' ever since October 2022 when Wendy Williams departed with her own talk show from the channel.
