‘RHOSLC’: Why Andy Cohen Says Jen Shah May Not Return in Season 4
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Jen Shah may have been absent from 2022 BravoCon, but she was very much a hot topic. Season 3 of the series follows Shah in preparation for her fraud case. The reality star was accused of frauding the elderly with fake marketing services for their businesses. She initially plead innocent but changed her plea as her alleged accomplice cooperated. Her boss Andy Cohen says her crimes may have cost her a job.
Cohen’s remarks are interesting considering Shah isn’t the first Bravolebrity to be arrested for financial crimes. Teresa Giudice of RHONJ served a year in prison for bankruptcy fraud. Filming for the show was put on hold until Giudice’s release.
Andy Cohen says Jen Shah’s guilty plea changes her future on the show
Cohen was obviously next expecting things to take the turn as they did with Shah. During the Season 2 reunion, Shah was grilled on whether or not she was innocent, and she maintained that she was. Shah even stated that she believed her race contributed to the alleged shakedown.
“Once we wrapped [Season 3 and] she pled guilty, I think that was kind of, unfortunately, the end of, you know, the engagement there,” he said at 2022 BravoCon per Page Six. “But I hope to sit down with her and talk to her at some point on camera because I have a lot of questions for her.”
The Bravo honcho previously expressed his disappointment in Jen Shah
Shah maintained her innocence for nearly a year, changing her plea to guilty just two weeks before the trial was set to start. The admission of the crimes shocked many, specifically Cohen. While speaking on his SiriusXM radio show Radio Andy, Cohen expressed that he was not happy with the chain of events from Shah.
“I’m especially upset for her victims,” Cohen said while speaking with Jonah Hill. “I’m upset that she lied for so long and claimed to me that she was an example of someone being wrongly accused…I’m also upset because, frankly, you get to know someone, and you get to like them. You want to cheer them on, and you hate to think that they’re capable of this behavior.”
He doubled down on his claims about wanting to speak with Shah herself, adding that he warns all potential reality TV cast members one thing: “I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: if you have something to hide, reality TV may not be the avenue.”
What Jen Shah faces next
In Shah’s guilty plea, she told a New York City courtroom that she was aware of the crimes she was committing in the fraud marketing scheme. Her lawyer released a statement to the public after her plea, which reads: “Ms. Shah is a good woman who crossed a line,” Entertainment Tonight reports. “She accepts full responsibility for her actions and deeply apologizes to all who have been harmed. Ms. Shah is also sorry for disappointing her husband, children, family, friends, and supporters. Jen pled guilty because she wants to pay her debt to society and put this ordeal behind her and her family.”
Shah now faces 14 years in prison. She may also be on the hook for $9 million in restitution to her victims.
