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It’s quite the rap-ture sheet.
Sherri Shepherd admitted she once skipped taxes, parking tickets and court dates because she was convinced the Rapture would whisk her to heaven — only to end up in jail for eight days.
“I didn’t plan on being here today. I thought the Rapture was going to take me up to heaven,” the 58-year-old former “View” cohost said on her nationally syndicated daytime television show “Sherri” on Wednesday.
The comedian, who also appeared on “30 Rock,” explained she was drawn in years ago by a religious warning that the end was imminent.
“They told us to get our house in order. And I said, ‘Why? I’m not going to need a house where I am going. I don’t need those worldly possessions.’”
Shepherd admitted she stopped paying her bills, taxes and traffic fines, racking up about $10,000 in moving violations.
“Jesus don’t care about no parking tickets,” she quipped.
But when she was pulled over on her way to perform at the Comedy Store in Hollywood, police arrested her on outstanding warrants.
“I went to jail for eight days and, because I fell for the Rapture, I became a hardened criminal,” Shepherd joked.
She said she learned her lesson and was skeptical of the most recent viral prediction that Jesus would return on Sept. 23.
“So everybody on TikTok started spreading the word that the rapture was coming yesterday,” Shepherd said.
“This one I didn’t fall for the okeydoke because I have been through this before,” she told viewers.
Shepherd was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness, where she embraced the faith’s strict teachings, including the belief that the rapture was imminent.
She later left the Jehovah’s Witnesses and now identifies as a Christian, describing her journey as moving from rigid doctrine to a faith centered on forgiveness and grace.
The Rapture is a belief among many evangelical Christians that, before the end of the world, Jesus Christ will return and take true believers up to heaven, leaving nonbelievers behind to face tribulation and suffering on Earth.
The concept draws on passages from the New Testament, which describe followers being “caught up” to meet Christ in the air.
While influential in evangelical culture, the Rapture is not embraced by all Christian denominations, with many regarding it as a modern interpretation rather than a central doctrine.
