Sherri Shepherd applauded Jimmy Kimmel’s return to late night on her show Wednesday morning, where she made light of the suspension drama by calling it an “unexpected vacation” for the comedian.
“I know they call it a suspension, but I looked at it like an unexpected vacation,” she said in her “Sherri” monologue. “Because Jimmy, we knew you were coming back. Because, I have to say, you are so beloved and so necessary.”
As she continued, Shepherd explained why she was left out of Kimmel’s lengthy list of thank yous, after the comedian shouted out fellow late night stars Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, John Oliver, Seth Meyers and many more.
Per Shepherd, she never got around to speaking with Kimmel directly about his suspension from ABC, as she couldn’t get her hands on his phone number.
“Y’all think that these celebrities just know each other, we don’t,” she said before breaking down the many attempts she made in an effort to get his contact information.
“I called my friend Luenell, and she said, ‘Did you reach out to Jimmy?’ I said, ‘Luenell, I don’t have his number,’” she added. “Luenell said, ‘I’ll text him for you,’ ’cause she’s a resident at Jimmy Kimmel’s Comedy club in Vegas on Sundays and Mondays … Well, I guess she didn’t text him at all.”
Shepherd then reached out to actress and comedienne Wanda Sykes — who vocalized her support of Kimmel on “Sherri” Monday — but she hit a roadblock once again.
“Wanda said, ‘I don’t just give out everybody’s number to just anybody,’” the host recalled. “She said she would text Jimmy for me. I guess Jimmy didn’t get the message, ’cause he didn’t mention me at all.”
By the end of it, Shepherd explained that she gave up on trying to reach Kimmel, but did call on him to hit her up in the future.
“Jimmy, would you please slide into my DMs, give me your number so I can reach out to you,” she said. “I’m so glad you are back on the air.”
After a six-day suspension, Kimmel returned to “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Tuesday evening, where he held back tears as he explained that he never intended “to make light of” Charlie Kirk’s death. He then laid into President Donald Trump and his attempt to censor media figures.
“[Trump] was somehow able to squeeze Colbert out of CBS, then he turned his sights on me, and now he’s openly rooting for NBC to fire Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers,” Kimmel said during his opening monologue. “We have to speak out against this. He’s not stopping, and it’s not just comedy. He’s gunning for our journalists too, he’s suing them, he’s bullying them.”
