Sherri Shepherd said that Barbara Walters made her cry for years when they co-starred on “The View” together.

“Barbara was so hard on me. I cried for three years in my dressing room because she was so hard on me, but she did it out of love,” Shepherd — who was a co-star on the longrunning ABC panel show between 2007 and 2014 — told People.

But apparently Walters told her: “I love you, I just need you to read a book, dear, and learn to defend what you believe. And speak up.”

Shepherd said, “It was the most painful experience that I’ve ever gone through, but it was the best experience.”