Matt Uzzle, the executive-in-charge of Sherri Shepherd’s daytime talk show, was found dead in his Piermont, N.Y., home on Feb. 13.
His death, which is believed to have been due to suicide, comes amid an investigation into alleged mishandling of the ‘Sherri’ show budget.
via Page Six:
Sources told us several departments had been complaining about issues with petty cash, and it was recently brought to parent company Debmar-Mercury’s attention that rent at the show’s Chelsea, NYC, studio had not been paid since September.
“There was real concern among staff that the show was getting shut down. Debmar had to step in,” a source familiar with the situation said.
Another source told us that the show has not been impacted, and Debmar-Mercury has continued production of “Sherri.”
Uzzle — whom Shepherd inherited from “The Wendy Williams Show” after “Sherri” replaced Williams’ daytime program — expressed he “needed a couple of days to get his paperwork together,” after brass confronted him about the show’s financial status, according to a source familiar with the situation.
Sources told us police performed a welfare check after no one heard from him, and “found him dead.”
A rep for Debmar-Mercury did not reveal details about his death or personnel issues, but told us, “We have retained [law firm] Morgan Lewis to help us investigate the matter and, pending the outcome of that investigation, we’ll have no further comment.”
News of Uzzle’s death has largely been kept under wraps, with the exception of small news sites like County Local News and National Memorial Site, which described Uzzle as “a respected production manager who was known for his outstanding contributions to ‘The Wendy Williams Show’ and several other significant projects.”
Uzzle’s work on “Sherri” was not mentioned.
“Sherri” included an in-memoriam for Uzzle on its Feb. 15 episode, and management has brought on grieving counselors to help staffers cope with the loss.
May he rest.
