Marlo Thomas apparently caught the ire of staffers on Sherri Shepherd's talk show following her recent appearance.
According to a report by Page Six, the 84-year-old actress - who guest starred in the November 1 episode of Sherri - upset the staff members after she appeared to body-shame the 55-year-old host.
Thomas appeared on the show to promote her multiple projects, including her forthcoming movie Magical Christmas Village. However, toward the end of the segment, she recalled a time when she had previously met Shepherd.
"I interviewed you for my AOL show [Monday's with Marlo]," the actress said. She then noted that Shepherd "used to be a big woman" and tried to emphasize her point by putting her hand around her body and blowing her face out.
Watch the moment below:"You've lost a lot of weight, but you've still got the boobies! That's good," Marlo continued. Shepherd, who is also a comedian, hopped off the seat and laughed at Thomas' comments - certainly appearing to see the funny side.
However, per a Page Six report, backstage employees did not find the moment amusing at all. One insider apparently told the outlet: "Sherri was a good sport, but people [at the show] are very protective of her."
"People were not happy that she fat-shamed her on national TV. It was like a slap in the face," the insider said, adding that they were "very vocal" about it.
"She works really hard at creating a very positive environment. Morale [at work] is everything to her, so people sort of went into mama bear mode," the source went on to note.
In addition to this, many people under the YouTube clip also weighed in on the That Girl actress' remark and shared their thoughts.
One user wrote: "Wow, interviewing going so well until Marlo started going off about Sherri's weight [...] Sherri has grace and manners, unlike Marol, so rude and so unnecessary. You are the QUEEN Sherri and you are always beautiful."
Another said: "I don't like how she disrespected Sherrie on her show never know who your haters are and she happened to be one of them but Sherrie is classy she laughed [it] off."
Despite the backlash, Shepherd herself continued to embrace the moment on her social media page.
A fan wrote: "At least you know @MarloThomas keeps it real… lmao I almost fell out my chair laughing," to which Shepherd replied: "You never know what's gonna happen on #Sherri," along with a laughing emoji.
Another fan wrote that Marlo "just acted like those elders in the Black church," to which, again, the host responded with laughing emojis.
Additionally, a representative for the comedian emphasized to Page Six that "just as it came off on television, Sherri laughed off the comment".
Before this, Shepherd told People magazine last year that her "goal is to be living a long and active life with [her] son Jeffrey" after she lost 20 pounds during the pandemic.
