The Internet came for Sherri Shepherd on Wednesday when she opened up about her 13-year-old special needs son, Jeffrey Charles.
Shepherd discussed her “special needs” child in an interview with PEOPLE at a WeTV event in Beverly Hills on Tuesday.
“He’s got developmental delays,” she said, describing Jeffrey as “so yummy and special.” But she irked parents of special needs children when she described Jeffrey as “perfectly imperfect in every way.”
“I love him no matter what, and I don’t compare him to other typical children,” she said. “He is who he is. I put him in an improv class. He gets to be silly and nerdy.”
Shepherd, 51, divorced Jeffrey’s father, Jeff Tarpley, in 2010 after 9 years of marriage. Tarpley sued her for child support but she was granted full custody of Jeffrey.
Shepherd says she is prepared to take care of Jeffrey for the rest of his life.
“He’s going to be 40 years old, living in my basement with white socks and flip flops,” she told PEOPLE.
The Internet hasn’t forgotten that Shepherd paid a surrogate to carry another son while she was married to now ex-husband Lamar Sally.
Sally has physical custody of Lamar Sally, Jr., a special needs child who was born in August 2014.
Shepherd filed for divorce a few months before Lamar Jr. was born and filed docs to terminate her responsibility as a parent to the boy.
In April 2015, a Pennsylvania judge ruled Shepherd was the legal parent of the youngster, making her financially responsible for his medical care. She agreed to pay Sally $4,000 a month in child support.
Sally later asked judge to increase his monthly payments, saying $4,000 a month wasn’t enough to care for Lamar Jr.’s special needs.
“I felt like I had a pretty tight pre-nup,” Shepherd told Dr. Oz in an interview that aired in 2017. Shepherd continuously referred to Lamar Jr. as “his son.”
“There’s a baby here and I have always said I would take care of his son because he’s here and I make money. I always said I would provide financially,” she told Dr. Oz.
But nobody’s perfect. I don’t see the problem with what she said ?????
There is no such thing as perfect..we are ALLLLL Perfectly Imperfect. PERIODT. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0a21f5327c592d9df2783ee803a094213fbf865e6bae306c2af334e00c586548.gif
Damn, aren’t we all imperfect?!?!?!
“perfectly imperfect” is perfectly fine.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/563ad1c367ef4e157691155dae583fbfa2235f243554afb33cd15b22e3ef4c9d.gif
Perfect (pun intended)!!
The context makes it evident that her comments weren’t offensive.
I forgot about the surrogate baby.
I dont get it. I mean she said hes Perfectly Imperfect.. thats how ALL of us are….no??
Its her kid. Let her describe him as she wants. My goodness
People get in their feelings too much online its ridiculous too many people policing other peoples thoughts and words and 9 times out of ten they don’t hold themselves to the same standards .
Newsflash we are all imperfect people next post
The internet needs a job too much time on its hands…lol
Show me a PERFECT person….I’ll wait!!!
I concur
I find no fault with Sherrie…this time with her bad decision-making self.
People are sick, she was talking about her son. Nothing she said should be offensive to anyone with a special needs child. Like it or not we’re all perfectly imperfect, that’s what makes us all different. Now I didn’t know the second son was special needs as well? I hope the dad has found a job to rely on instead of her purse because time flies!
Now wait just a minute…she has 2 special needs sons…1 from a 9 year marriage that ended up in divorce in 2010 and her being sued for child support but ended up being granted full custody?………and one being carried by a surrogate later in life who is also special needs and she pays $4K a month for HIS son?….
Did I get it right?
Nothing wrong with what she said. Perfectly imperfect sounds sweet to me. I hope 2019 brings the end to all of this fake outrage oh and “Instagram models”. Can we get rid of them too??
I see nothing wrong with the statement we all are perfectly imperfect…….Really?
I’m consumed as to why she and her ex husband had a baby with a surrogate when they were on the brink of divorce. Or did things go to hell in a hand basket during the pregnancy? The time frame is odd because why would you have a child with someone, when things aren’t working out?
She describes him in so many positive lights, like ‘yummy and special,’ perfectly imperfect in every way, etc. I think people get to hung up on what others say, especially when it comes to their own children. It’s clear that she loves her son, so why pick out one word to be angry about?
He needed a source of income. I forget what work he did before meeting Sherri but he was tired of it.
Aren’t we all perfectly imperfect? ?????
F*ck those parents. That’s her baby. She doesn’t have to change her description of him to fit their narrative.
As far as that baby with Sally… she decided to adopt a baby with him and paid a broad to get pregnant. You don’t get to change your mind after you create a baby no more than a man can say, “The baby ain’t here. We broke up – I’m out!”
But w/o IG models… who would buy Fashion Nova clothes? LOL
They can have several seats… We are all perfectly imperfect and her words about her son were very loving… It’s called unconditional love
Mufuggas get on my nerves….. We all are imperfect.. This word is used to describe us all. WHATS THE PROBLEM!!! I’ma say WT I want HIS I WANT AND FAWK POLITICAL CORRECTNESS!!
He’s the male equivalent of having a baby to secure a bag
Wait a minute, even the kid that’s not hers is special needs? wow
I chatted with Sherri just this week & told her she is too honest about EVERYTHING! Sometimes U need to keep certain things to yourself.
He’s going to be 40 years old, living in my basement with white socks and flip flops,”
__________________________________________
Tf? This is why black women should not be raising young black men alone.
Soooo she should put him in a group home or facility when he turns 18 instead??
A special needs person will always be better off in the care of the people who know and love them GTFOH with that BS
Jeffrey is a cute lil boy. He looks just like his mom around the mouth. Just keep teaching him sherry and it’ll be ok.
You sound just as dumb as Sherri why would you put him in a facility she said he developmental delays not down syndrome or mental retardation.
Right? Who besides my children are PERFECT?! lol na but I’m joking! Who decides who’s perfect and who’s not?? People are so goddamn weird I swear. So, since he’s special needs, calling him “imperfect” is offensive ??? that’s crazy. *insert the stepford wife
Sherri keep lots of love around that Young man …. Much love to him and you …. You look great by the way <3 much love https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/cda4925ca1d357264787be9b5ccd589f4b0940cb9442847e1840c0a193a331e3.gif
He’s a Black male, so of course in her eyes he is imperfect. If he was white, with one ball, no legs, one arm with just a thumb, blind with the mind and heart of Hitler, this bish would proclaim to the world his perfection! ?
Cute young man. None of us are perfect.
Not so, her comments alone indicate an underlying contempt for him which canand often lead to abuse, physical or mental..
That’s because you’re smart and most likely very happy. These stupid miserable people find fault in EVERYTHING!!!!
Aren’t we all?
I’m perfectly imperfect and ion care what none of y’all say ?
I didn’t get that impression from her comments at all…sounded like admiration to me
She said what she said?
So people can say they don’t want a gay son but if someone says their special needs child is ‘imperfect’ hell to the naw?
Alrighty then.
Sorry but I didn’t get the feeling she was trying to throw shade at her son in any way. It came across as a loving mother and a bit of honesty on the part that she will most likely have to take care of him his whole life. That is a reality for many parents with special needs children. They will basically be in your care forever. I think people read to much into everything.
Nah why would YOU say… Oh nevermind… I know you’re a black woman hater in general
They were not on the brink of divorce
This is how it happened.
She and Sally were in love as she saw it.
She tested to undergo IVF but her eggs were too old so they went the surrogate route.
Sally signed a prenup which limited him to $100K in the case of a divorce. He wanted more.
Sally filed for divorce around the time of the child’s birth NOT Sherri. Sherri thoughts the marriage was good and it came out of left field.
I have explained this to many posters but they still think that Sherri is a horrible mother because she doesn’t want anything to do with the situation that her ex-husband created.
So is Kevin Hart but black women are defending him.
Ha,ha,ha!!
Yeah when she told everyone how many abortions she had had I thought she had lost her mind.
After some preacher somewhere said that her son is mentally challenged because he is being punished for her abortions.
Alrighty then.
I will never forget she tried to dump her baby.
Didn’t Sherry go to court to get out of paying for the surrogate baby? So, how is she now talking about “I would take care of his son because he’s here and I make money.”?
Yea! I remember when she said that! That was before Social Media took off. If she would have said that now!
Not long ago she was talking about her sons erection and how he prefers white girls .Because black girls are too mean. Smh
How is it that she had two special needs children? The first one she had and the second one someone else had….this is very unusual.
I think sometimes we can be overly sensitive. I guess because he’s special needs people got an issue with that “perfectly imperfect”. I have more of an issue with her saying he’ll be 40 and living in her basement. Why even speak limitations like that on his life?
I’m not saying just because she said it, it will happen, but damn. That’s all you see for him?
What she say wrong? That’s her son, if she say he’s imperfect, what’s wrong with that? They woulda been hollering either way if she said he was the most perfect kid.
You went there, oooops….lol
Kevin is shallow but I don’t get that impression of hating all black women from him. His ex wife is a beautiful black woman and he hasn’t tried to take custody from her (like a few others have) and he supports his fellow comedian Tiffany Haddish and stepped ALL the way up to defend her honor after Katt dissed her.
88 is a troll who constantly puts down black women… His momma must’ve been the worst
Dare I say that she has an even worse shape than Wendel Williams?
Good point!
I think she meant imperfectly perfect.
Still her eggs i think.
She lost.
“One ball” ?????
I was just about to write this and saw your comment. That’s what I want to know too. Something’s off about that.
As a mother of a son with Autism I was not offended or mad about what she said! I really don’t think she meant any harm by what she said! I agree with another poster on here that said that she meant that her son was imperfectly perfect! Some people are just overly sensitive! We living in a time where people are offended by every little thing! If u have mustard or your hot dog instead of ketchup somebody’s offended! I say eff em, those people will never be satisfied! Just do u!
She fought it tooth and nail.
Insane!
That was before Social Media took off.
IIRC she said it on the View. That couldn’t have been that long ago and her son is right black girls are mean but she really needs to leave her son out of her public conversations.
That’s weird. She doesn’t want him to experience independence, college, his own apartment, marriage, family. He can be independent and she can dote on him and his own future family. I mean there are special needs couples, I mean there are disabled couples with their own lives and families. Why does she think he’ll be living in her basement?
True. Lol
She is dead wrong for how she is treating her youngest son. You don’t do your children like that. She is no better than these other dead beats out there. Shame on you Sheri. ?
well hail, takes one to know one, an imperfect person can spot another specialy when you boo boo’d him out. most other “parents” need to be able to make such honest and clear assessments regarding their own spawn
We are all imperfect Jesus.
Perfectly imperfect is not a slur. The PC police need to take a donut break and chill.
?
Thanks for breaking it down! I honestly didn’t know. I just remember all the backlash she was getting because she didn’t want to pay child support for the surrogate child or something to that effect. ?
I didnt get that from this. Is she racist against blck men? Well if so then thats dumb lol
My thoughts exactly. Let love heal and grow him the rest of the way.
What r ur thoughts on single mothers who had no choice due 2 infidelity or some other sad option that we women r given.
No it wasn’t.
BLACK GIRLS ARE NOT MEAN! TAKE IT BACK OR I’LL BOP YOU!!
Why does she and other women keep wearing weave?? She looks crazy with that weave starting at the back of her head. Her hairline keeps running away from her head. There needs to be a national ban on weaves they look so stupid thinkin they look good.
This is the first time I’ve heard it broken down like this which is why I just didn’t understand, so she was blindsighted…how awful.
It’s looking like she married an old gold digging bastard. I wonder why living the good life with her wasn’t enough. He actually wanted to take her money and be on his own.
And the thing is, he’s special needs too so she should be in that boys life and let him grow up with his other special needs brother. They’re in this together, this world is criel and that baby will need sherry and his older brother.
And VERY moody!
I was watching The View when she blurted it out. She has no filter whatsoever….
I have no respect for her. Plan, pay, and prepare for a child. Then abandon the baby because things don’t work out with the father. What kind of selfish woman would do that?
That’s what I thought, but she’s talking like she’s paying cs out of the goodness of her heart.
Thanks, I knew I wasn’t slippin’. ??
She has the BIGGEST smile. All them teef be showing. Lol
Yeah Sherri married a bum.
Hell she should have told the judge that Sally could buy some land in Alabama and pull up a trailer for less than $500/month.
Ha,ha,ha!!
No she’s paying child support now.
She said on the TJMS that it was a blessing.
Which is #ff’d up!
Uh-uh…
That younger child is NOT hers. It was a donor egg fertilized by conman ex-husband’s sperm and carried by a surrogate. It was a grift to get her money. It’s a travesty that she is financially responsible for someone else’s child. If that lousy old man can concoct a scheme to steal her money he can get a real damn job and support his own child. Only thing Sherri did wrong was being dumb enough to marry a lowlife
Sensitive folks! She didn’t say anything wrong…. we are all perfectly imperfect and if you think otherwise, quit fooling yourself!
Hey Roses,
What colour ladies suit do you recommend for an interview? Dark grey, black or navy?
Also do you suggest tailored pants or a knee length skirt?
Thank you!
I always go for Navy for interviews. I like pantsuits.To me, it’s more authoratative.
Chicagoans everywhere reading this just got triggered cause ketchup don’t belong on hotdogs!
I like black. It makes you professional.
I like the Dark Grey or Navy best. I like the pantsuit!
Good Luck!
Do your homework and find out as much as you can about the company and the interviewers!
They have to pass your interview.
Her child that she LOVES…
Her right to call him IMPERFECT.
BTW… nobody is perfect!
My kids are IMPERFECT… so am I.
Good luck! Any will work just fine. Swing back and let us know how it went!!!!! Im excited for ya!
Btw I did research online and no where doers it states the second baby is special needs like her other son, he isn’t autistic nor has a learning disability. But he has G6PD (Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is an inherited condition usually occurring in males. It’s more common in those of African and Mediterranean descent. Triggers include infections, stress, fava beans, aspirin, and other drugs). Which may cause him to have a lot of medical bills but with proper care and avoiding what’s stated he should be fine.
As for what she said about her child folks are way to overly critical. It’s amazing how people want to act like their the perfect parent. But we all know none of our children are perfect and the last thing you want to do is tell a child their perfect. No one is.
We are all IMPERFECT.
Is this a who wore it better? Lemme scroll up and look at the pic again.
He is a cutie. And he’s got money? He will get all the ladies imperfect as he is.
Went to college with him. He has a degree, and honestly was one of the nicest gentle giants I have ever known. I don’t know what happened between then and the person he was wirh Sherri, but I agree with everything you said.
The only reason why Sherrie’s son has special needs is because she had so many abortions before giving birth to him!
??????????
Are you her doctor? How do you know this?
Asking for a friend.
That woman is TRASH ???
Navy pants suit, firm handshake and have some questions for them at the end, eye contact, take notes. Smile! Practice answering questions but also don’t be too robotic. Relax.
Envision yourself killing the interview and envision them making the offer for the salary you want, and you driving to the office on your first day. Good luck!!! Let us know how it goes.
Thank you! Great advice
Thank you! I mos def will
Thank you! Great advice
Thank you!
Thank you! Great advice
Navy pin strip is fine as long as they are small pinstripes. I like the kitten bow blouse. Mixes the more masculine pants suit with a feminine blouse and I like that.
We’ve been conditioned by society blacks, whites, men, women and children to think our own hair isnt good enough…myself included…so sad but true
Or maybe she just needs a bang.
Would you tell a young girl or a grown woman who suffered from cancer or alopecia how dumb they look wearing weave? You don’t know what’s going on under that wig. She might of been taught to hate her natural hair like the rest of us and hasn’t gotten to the point of self confidence yet..
Yes I’d say you look dumb wearing a weave from cancer chemo wear a wig instead. If you’re looking for any excuse in the world including cancer to wear a weave and try to shame me for criticizing it shame on you.
I don’t need to criticize you bc this is all opinions. You would be able to tell a wig from a weave from a crotchet in all instances? Hell naw. Whether its crotchet, sewn or glued on the hair or a wig cap..it’s still weave. So that makes no sense. And I have beautiful natural 4C hair that I embrace, hunty. If I wear a weave and you think I look dumb, that’s fine. I probably think the same about you lol
1. Sally tricked her and that surrogate sounded more like his girlfriend. Sally left her first. He knew he was leaving but made sure to get a kid. They didnt use any part of sherri, the terms was weird, and he left before the baby was born.
2. She has the right to talk about the challenges of raising her special needs son. Unlike a lot of people she is raising her kid everyday. A lot of special needs parents put the kid off on others and then have more special need kids. Sherri went through a lot with her ex slandering her and the son so he could get child support. As a kid I helped with a cousin. It was draining and everything was a chore. If taking care of a special needs person isnt challenging then you must be passing the buck. The drs appointments alone are draining.
could be true though. happened to my family member and i was wondering if all those abortions in her teens and early 20s were the cause…
its her child. she can say whatever she wants. i do the same about my kids.
I swear he looks like her. But, they didn’t use her eggs right??? I have a child on the spectrum and understand the point she was trying to make. Anyway, glad they have a relationship. She was angry for a longtime.
Be confident. Wear that.
Thats all you need my love..