Sherri Shepherd rejects viral Sept 23 Rapture date claim

Sherri Shepherd said she did not fall for a viral prediction that the Rapture would occur on Tuesday, Sept. 23, and used the episode Wednesday of her syndicated daytime show to explain why she is skeptical. Shepherd, 58, told viewers she had been misled by a similar prophecy in the past that led her to stop paying bills, rack up thousands in traffic fines and spend eight days in jail.

The recent prediction, which circulated widely on TikTok over the past week, was tied to claims that Jesus had appeared in a dream and would return on Sept. 23 to take believers to heaven. Clips endorsing and mocking the forecast amassed hundreds of thousands of posts under hashtags related to the Rapture. The claim has been linked to a South African pastor and to a June episode of the podcast I've Been Through the Most, in which a man named Joshua Mhlakela said the date was revealed to him in a dream.

Shepherd said she believes in the Rapture as a theological concept but will not be swayed by sudden viral dates. I have been through this before, she told her audience. She recounted that a prior religious group urged followers to get their houses in order ahead of an expected end of the world. I...