‘RHOSLC’: 5 Cringy Takeaways From Jen Shah’s 6.5-Year Prison Sentence Hearing
The third season of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City has unfolded with plenty of drama to entertain fans. Most notably, Jen Shah’s fall keeps fans glued to their screens.
Viewers can see what led Shah to change her plea from innocent to guilty for the conspiracy to commit wire fraud as her trial ended on January 6. And Bravo fans thought this season of RHOSLC led to many revelations. But her trial gave them even more cringy moments to digest. Here are five of the big ones:
1. Jen Shah is considered an actor
As is common in celebrity trials, a lot of attention was focused on Shah’s court proceedings. The courtroom was full, and reporters were there to cover all of the juicy details. Reporter Josh Russell utilized his Twitter to update the public on Shah’s proceedings, which revealed a lot about the public figure.
One revelation: The presiding judge, Judge Stein, addressed the courtroom regarding Shah’s role on RHOSLC, stating, “The court isn’t going to confuse the character that she plays on an entertainment show with the person [sitting before me in court today] … One is acting, one is — forgive me — reality.” The judge went on to explain to the courtroom that RHOSLC is “heavily scripted.”
2. The free Jen Shah merchandise was tasteless
Shah persisted in maintaining innocence for a lengthy amount of time. She was so unwavering in her innocence that she sold “Free Jen” and “Justice for Jen” merchandise. This detail did not escape Judge Stein. As Inner City Press reports, Stein directly asked Shah’s attorney, “Is she still selling ‘Free Jen’ and ‘Justice for Jen’ merchandise?” Shah’s attorney, Priya Chaudhry, responded that she was not anymore.
Attorney Chaudhry tried to defend Shah, explaining, “She tried to fill the hole in her self-esteem with shiny trinkets” and that her path to accepting guilt was long and twisted.
3. Shah exhibited no remorse
Judge Stein emphasized Shah’s lack of remorse by highlighting her defense binder. The former reality star focused on herself rather than the victims. The judge said, “The materials you’ve given me, this binder … her personal submission to the court is only exhibit D … but there’s not a word there about the victims.”
Judge Stein went on to accuse Shah of only acting to save herself. She stated that Shah made efforts to hide information from law enforcement rather than take responsibility for the harm she caused.
4. Shah says Bravo created her catchphrase
RHOSLC fans are likely familiar with the catchphrase, “The only thing I’m guilty of being Shah-mazing.” In the intro of every Real Housewife episode, cast members state a tagline or “catchphrase.” Season 2 of RHOSLC came with brand new taglines for all castmates, including Shah’s cringy line.
Real Housewife taglines are intended to give viewers a glimpse into the castmates’ personalities and a brief preview of what viewers can expect to see as the season plays out.
If fans were curious how the real housewives get their catchphrases, Shah blamed Bravo for the insensitive tagline. The disgraced star said, “But reality TV has nothing to do with reality, even my tagline, Shah-mazing — they wrote it.”
5. Jen Shah considers herself too important to apologize directly to victims
As Inner City Press reports, there was not a single piece of evidence showcasing Shah exhibiting remorse. There were horrifying pieces of evidence to the contrary, including Shah laughing in a text concerning an 80-year-old victim crying.
Judge Stein directly addressed Shah’s inability to apologize directly, saying, “She was too important to talk to the victims. She was a leader of this conspiracy. So this cuts against you, not for you.” Shah’s attorney responded that Shah prayed for forgiveness from her victims as she struggled to forgive herself.
