Sherri Shepherd Finally Reveals the Actress Who ‘Forcefully’ Accused Her of Throwing Shade at the Othello Opening

Sherri Shepherd is spilling the tea about her alleged uncomfortable encounter at the premiere of Othello on Broadway. More than two months after the talk show host, 58, shared that an “unnamed celebrity” “forcefully” accused her of throwing shade at the event, Shephard revealed who was allegedly behind the incident during an appearance on The Breakfast Club.

“It was Nia Long,” she said. “I don’t know who Nia Long had me confused with.”

“The only time I’ve ever talked about Nia Long is when she went through with her partner [when] there was infidelity,” she said, seemingly referring to the actress’ split from Ime Udoka, who allegedly had an affair with a female subordinate within the team’s organization. “I supported her and… [said] she deserves to have a good man to be with her.”

She continued, “I think Nia Long maybe confused me with someone… I have no idea who she thought was shading her, but it was not me. I have no beef with Nia Long. I’m a fan of hers.”

She noted that both her and Long, 54, are “grown women,” adding, “We’re both the same age so we can discuss it. That’s why I invited her on my show.”

Representatives for Long did not immediately return PEOPLE’s request for comment.

Shepherd also addressed people being surprised she spoke out about the incident — albeit without initially naming names.

She said, “A lot of people say, well, why would you say something like that publicly? Well, number one, I never said her name. There’s a lot of women that attended the Othello premiere. And number two, I’m a stand up comic. So everything that happens in my life is material for me. And my stage, my comedy stage, is the talk show.”

“So I got on stage and I just talked about it, and I said, you know… this happened,” she added.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by The Breakfast Club (@breakfastclubam)

The television personality reiterated that she doesn’t have “any beef,” explaining, “I don’t like to tear down people. But I honestly was just confused. And I also don’t like when you touch me and you pull at me. I don’t like that…[she] grabbed me and spun me around.”

“I’m cool. I’m so cool. It’s done,” she added. “If Nia Long would love to come on my show, I would love [that], I’m a fan. We’re both actresses. I would love to talk to her and just clear it up.”

During the March 24 episode of her talk show Sherri, Shepherd recalled, “This unnamed celebrity actress, who shall remain nameless, I’m standing there talking, somebody grabbed my arm, and they forcefully turned me around.”

Shepherd shared that she had been “in a good mood” and started a conversation with the star, saying, “I go, ‘Hi! What’s going on?’ Cause I know her. And she says to me, she goes, ‘You’ve been shading me a lot.’ That’s what she said to me.”

She quickly denied the accusation, recalling, “I said to her, I said, ‘No, I haven’t.’ Because I was really confused. And she goes, ‘Yes, you have.’ And then she just walked off.”

“Now, let me tell you something. First of all, I know who I shade because I don’t shade many people. It might be one person I shade. And I never have shaded this unnamed celebrity,” she added. “And so she came up to me in front of everybody going, ‘You shaded me.’ And then she walks off. So I was mad. I was really mad, and I said, ‘You know what? You don’t freaking get to do that to me.'”

During the talk show, she also addressed the celebrity directly.  “I would say to unnamed celebrity, because you think I shaded you — which means you watch my show — I don’t know who you think I am. I think you get me confused with somebody, one of the bloggers or the influencers, because I know I didn’t shade you.”

VIA

NEXT >>>