Sherri Shepherd Reacts to Ex's Surrogate Baby Abandonment Allegations; Says 'Silence' is 'Best Revenge'
Sherri Shepherd responded to reports of a surrogate baby scandal with a cryptic post on social networking site Instagram.
In recent weeks "The View" co-host has been subject to claims suggesting she wants nothing to do with an unborn surrogate baby she previously agreed to have with her now estranged husband Lamar Sally.
The couple, who separated in May, is expecting a baby together via a surrogate; however, their separation has reportedly complicated matters.
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The unborn baby was conceived using Sally's sperm but not Shepherd's egg and was reportedly due on Thursday.
On Monday Shepherd, who has not publicly addressed the reports, shared a cryptic message which alluded to why she is staying silent on the matter.
"Smiling will always be the best medicine, silence will always be the best revenge and Love will always be all you need #unknown - your strength is in your smile!" she captioned alongside two selfies.
The Instagram post came hours after a story leaked to TMZ.com claiming the comedian, 47, was not present at the surrogate mother's recent baby shower. Sally, 43, claims that he spent $5,000 on baby goods including a changing station and baby swing for the baby, but Shepherd reportedly did not even send a gift.
"The date for [our surrogate] to deliver is [July] 31st. [She's due] any time this week, actually. I am on baby watch," Sally recently told People.com.
Sources claim the couple entered into a surrogacy contract where Shepherd agreed to be the unborn baby's mother. They even picked out the name Lamar Jr. for the child, according to the report.
Shepherd, who has a 9-year-old son, Jeffrey, with ex-husband Jeff Tarpley, allegedly thinks Sally defrauded her into signing the surrogate contract even though he supposedly wanted out of the marriage at the time, simply because he wanted child support.
Sally, who was married to Shepherd for more than two years is said to be in the process of drafting legal documents to prevent the Christian mother-of-one from backing out of their agreement. He reportedly wants custody of the unborn surrogate baby and has requested that Shepherd have "reasonable" visitation rights. In addition to wanting custody, Sally is asking for spousal support and the cost of his attorney fees.
"It's still unclear what's going on," Sally said of the surrogate baby's custody arrangement.
Shepherd reportedly filed for divorce from Sally in the state of New Jersey where courts generally don't recognize surrogate agreements. Sally filed in California, where courts are said to be more open to these situations.
On July 7 she confirmed her departure from "The View" after seven years on the show.
