Who Is Sherri Shepherd's Husband? Details of Her Relationships and Children

Comedian actress Sherri Shepherd is a renowned personality in the film industry with multiple Emmy nominations. However, her married life was a complete roller-coaster ride.

If you are looking for an inspiring diva in the entertainment industry, then veteran actress Sherri Shepherd is undoubtedly the one you need to look upto. Over her multiple decades-long careers in the entertainment industry, she gave us some top television shows and movies like 'Suddenly Susan,' 'The View,' and the award-nominated 'Precious.' With the talent to spread joy and laughter with her expressions and versatile skill set, Shepherd is a fan-favorite personality.

The actor from 'Less than Perfect's career is actually perfect, but it is her married life, which turned out to be bizarre. Shepherd might have succeeded in losing around 40 pounds to fight diabetes, but she couldn't keep her marriage together. And, not once, but twice (although one of them had an impact on her weight). Yes, you heard it right, the comedian is a two-time divorcee herself. So, without wasting much time, let us delve into how that went through.

Sherri Shepherd: First Marriage with Jeff Tarpley

It was the early days of Sherri Shepherd's career on the television when the actress fell in love for the first time. Interestingly, Jeff Tarpley was the man with whom she shared her romantic interests, also shared the professional interests with him.

Surprisingly, her beau used to feature in movies like 'Cold Cabin,' 'Dead Man on Campus,' and 'King of the Open Mics' in the past. The two crossed the path in the late 1990s and started dating eventually. Consequently, the romance between them grew stronger, resulting in a marital bond. Thus, they exchanged vows in 2001 and got married. 

Jeff Tarpley and Sherri Shepherd share a son together.
Photo Source: Dailymail

The celebrity marriage was a big deal back in the time, as it headlined all the news, and the fans couldn't be happier. Over the years, they even started a family together and gave birth to a child, son Jeffrey Charles Tarpley. Just when everything seemed alright, things turned sour as they had several conflicts between them, and thus, they parted ways with a divorce.

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Following the divorce, things turned quite ugly between Tarpley and Shepherd. In 2015, her former husband returned to the scene as he sought full custody of their child together. Although in the initial years, the mother, Sherri, got to spend time with her son, her ex-husband alleged his son of getting neglected in Shepherd's care as the actress used to be busy most of the time. In response, the actress filed papers claiming that her ex-lover is an 'absentee dad' who deserves no part in his son's life. Eventually, she lost the child custody and paid around $131 per month, even though Tarpley asked for $10,000 since he earned relatively less, without a full-time job.

After the break-up, the 'Dancing With the Stars' artist moved out of their former residence at Sherman Oaks, California, and listed the home for sale for $535,000. Despite a high price, the buyers negotiated it down, and thus the celebrity sold the house for $435,000.

Sherri Shepherd's Married Again to TV Writer Lamar Sally

Shortly after splitting up with the first husband, the 'Emeril' actress Sherri Shepherd started hanging out with fellow actor and writer, Lamar Sally, introduced by her friend, Niecy. Only after a few occasions, they developed a unique vibe between them and thus started seeing one another. One thing led to another, and surprisingly, in the same year, as she got divorced, she got engaged to Sally in boxing day, 2010.

Sherri Shepherd tied the knot with Lamar Sally in August 2011.
Photo Source: People

The millionaire-worth actress enjoyed a lavishing wedding ceremony in August 2011 at the Fairmont Hotel in front of close friends and family. The duo was quite excited as they looked forward to starting a family. In fact, they announced their search for a surrogate to welcome a child in their family in September 2012.

What followed, however, wasn't pleasant since, as they found a willing surrogate and signed everything, cracks occurred in between their bond. Surprisingly, they filed for separation in May 2014, a few months before their child was born. When the surrogate child, named LJ (Lamar Jr.), was born, things were quite ugly between his parents as they fought for child custody.

Sally and Shepherd Ended Things Badly

While many criticized Shepherd's decision to get married as rushed and unwise, but the 'F.R.I.E.N.D.S.' guest cast never listened to anyone else but her heart, which was in love back then. The likes of Steve Harvey, Barbara Walters, and Whoopi Goldberg advised her not to carry on with the wedding as they didn't consider Sally as a nice person.

Moreover, her ex-lover, Salley, was furious that Sherri married him only because she was lonely and "horny" after coming off a divorce from her first tie. Yes, the diva told in an interview how she was scared and lonely in her 40s, and with a culture, she grew up in, she thought sex outside marriage is not good.

The whole celibacy thing, this idea that it’s better to get married than to burn. So I got married too because I was horny, and look, we never had sex.

As both Sally and Shepherd were quite reputed personalities, in the entertainment industry, the divorce between them was a huge deal, which was followed by many interviews and pep-talks. The war of words began as well as Sherri said how bad of a person his former beau was. The TV writer also called out on her and alleged her for bad mouthing him in public and not serving the role of mother to their surrogate child.

Sherri Shepherd admitted marrying Sally because she was lonely.
Photo Source: WENN

After all the court proceedings, comedian Shepherd failed to get the child custody, yet again, as Sally got all the rights. Even though the talented actress got the right to visit her child, she was disappointed of paying around $100,000 as a divorce settlement and $3000 as child support to her second husband as well. The Emmy-nominated artist sold her house, which she shared with Lamar for $1.725 million, and moved on, leaving, in an attempt to leave everything behind and start fresh.

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