Sherri Shepherd Shares How Kathy Griffin, Rosie O'Donnell Helped Her Negotiate Salary

Sherri Shepherd is an advocate of sharing experiences and she detailed how her friends Kathy Griffin and Rosie O'Donnell helped her negotiate her salary after learning that she was paid less than them.

Shepherd and Kym Whitley want to pay it forward by sharing their experiences in the show business. Prior to their special "Women in Film Presents: Make It Work!" Shepherd and Whitley sat for an interview with Entertainment Tonight and spoke on how Griffin and O'Donnell helped her in negotiating her salary.

"I'm very thankful when I did Suddenly Susan, Kathy Griffin told me what she was making and I was like, 'For real!?' Making nowhere near that," Shepherd told ET.

"Rosie O'Donnell helped me negotiate my salary on ‘The View’ because what they offered me was so low and then Rosie O'Donnell came in and said, 'Uh, sister, this is what so-and-so is making, and this is what I'm making. This is what you need to ask for.' My negotiations all the way went with Rosie O'Donnell, so I think that is so important. We have to share because it's this level of secrecy and then you don't know."

For Shepherd, sharing experiences is very important because had Griffin and O'Donnell kept their salary a secret from her, she would have not negotiated her salary because she had no idea about the huge difference in their paychecks. Shepherd also shared what she learned to Whitley.

"And you know, that's the truth because Sherri helps me. She thinks she's my manager but still to this day, a lot of women don't share their information," Whitley said of Shepherd.

"It's like a big secret and ... your job is going to be your job and so what if you tell me how much you made? That will only help me know how to negotiate."

Shepherd advised women to never take the first offer. Women are conditioned to take it because they need the money, but Shepherd has learned that those people have more money. She said one should use the first offer as the starting amount for negotiation.

In related news, Shepherd was named by Cosmopolitan as one of its best Black female talk show hosts in TV history. Shepherd was overjoyed with the news.

"Thank you @cosmopolitan & journalist @bykellyallen for picking me as one of the 10 Best Black Female Talk Show Hosts in History!!! What an honor to be acknowledged for something I’ve always a dreamt of doing," she wrote on Instagram.