Sherri Shepherd tells ET she feels Tom Cruise had a "very hard" time discussing the death of Jett Travolta on "The View" -- and Sherri tells us where she thinks Tom might have gone after the interview, which taped Thursday morning.

"It was very hard for him to speak," Sherri says of Tom. "He got really, really choked up, and you could tell, it was one dad relating to another dad losing their child."

Sherri tells ET Tom said he's known John Travolta for a long time, and has known Jett since he was a baby.

The interview airs Friday morning. On Thursday afternoon, the Travolta family held an intimate memorial service for 16-year-old Jett.