Sherri Shepherd 'Sorry' For Pressuring Recovering Alcoholic Elizabeth Vargas To Drink On Her Show!

Sherri Shepherd, no!!!

Last Thursday, the talk show host sat down with 20/20 alum Elizabeth Vargas on her new show Sherri, but the conversation kept coming back to one thing: alcohol! Several times, the host tried to pressure the journalist into drinking with her! At one point, Sherri said:

“I’m going to take you to the bar, we’re going to drink. We’re going to have a drink.”

Elizabeth, who has been sober since 2014, kept her cool and only offered back:

“[I’ll] have my classic club soda with cranberry juice, but you can pound some shots.”

A pretty classy response, considering! Unfortunately, Sherri only doubled down and called her guest “no fun.” Oof! THE WOMAN IS SOBER! READ THE ROOM, SHERRI!

Later, the 30 Rock alum once again found a way to bring up alcohol during the discussion. She said the pair should “go to the bar” and “get drunk and have a good time.” Elizabeth replied:

“You get drunk. I’ll be your designated driver.”

Isn’t this supposed to be daytime TV, y’all?! Why does she keep harping on the drinking?

Viewers were upset by the whole thing — especially fans who knew how open Elizabeth has been about her sobriety journey. If you didn’t know, the NewsNation personality previously revealed she drank due to her anxiety and panic attacks but managed to get sober after three stints in rehab from 2013 to 2014. She even wrote the book Between Breaths: A Memoir of Panic and Addiction and hosts the podcast Heart of the Matter, both of which discuss her addiction. But apparently, Sherri didn’t do nearly enough research on her guest!

Well, she got the memo after the fact! Apologizing for the insensitive conversation, the comedian released a statement to EW after the episode aired, saying:

“Sometimes when you’re doing live TV, you make mistakes. Today that happened during my Elizabeth Vargas interview and I’m sorry for that. 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.”

Elizabeth also spoke to the outlet, though she didn’t seem to mind what happened, noting:

“Sherri called to apologize – she was very gracious. She just didn’t know. It’s not a big deal. I was not at all upset.”

Wow! Way to take the high road! Sure, she didn’t know — but she’s supposed to. It’s her job! Next time, Sherri better be more aware of who she’s speaking to, though, cause this was NOT a good look! The next time she says the wrong thing, it could end up a lot worse. You can watch the full episode (below)!