Andy Cohen Defends Hope Real Housewives Star Jen Shah Doesn’t Go To Jail In New Interview

Andy Cohen defended his initial response to Real Housewives Of Salt Lake City star Jen Shah’s telemarketing scheme and his hope that she would not go to jail.

The 54-year-old TV presenter was interviewed by CNN’s Chris Wallace, 75, on Sunday, who said: “You’re on record, last November, saying you hoped he didn’t go to jail.” Why would you side with him against the thousands of people he let down, including many old people?

The Bravo executive explained: ‘I think I was hoping she was really innocent. However, Wallace quickly responded: “She pleaded guilty!”

‘That was before she pleaded guilty, I mean, I said that, I think?’ Cohen responded to questioning about Shah, 49.

“No,” Wallace replied, “I think it was after.”

‘Really?’ Cohen, who serves as an executive producer on the Real Housewives franchises, responded, looking embarrassed: “Oh, gosh. Anyway! Wow, this is fun.

Cohen said he couldn’t remember the exact “context” of his comment, but said viewers were “demanding” to know Shah’s status on the show.

“And I say, ‘It’s up to the judge. She’s about to be sentenced to a long jail term,'” she told Wallace, who reminded her that Shah “did something wrong.”

‘Yes she did. And then, she should go to jail,’ she agreed.

“You know, sometimes if you get to know someone and you like them, you hope they’re not guilty of something horrible,” she added.

Cohen’s initial quote comes from a November 2022 interview with Us Weekly, where he discussed whether Shah would return for RHOSLC season 4.

“She’s going to be sentenced on December 15, so I don’t know what to tell people who want her on the show. I hope she doesn’t spend time in jail and that she can come back right away… but I have a feeling she won’t be available to be on the show,” she said at the time.

However, Shah did not attend the season 3 reunion and was absent from BravoCon, which took place in October 2022. She has been a cast member of RHOSLC for the entire three seasons of Bravo as of November 2020.

Shah was sentenced to six and a half years in prison earlier this month for running a years-long telemarketing scheme that prosecutors say targeted the elderly and vulnerable, stripping them of their savings and draining their credit cards. .

He pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in July in a dramatic defense reversal. She is due to report for arraignment on February 17 and will serve her sentence at a facility in Texas.

Shah herself sobbed as she read a statement in court, claiming that her reality TV persona was nothing more than an act. She promised to collect $6.5 million in restitution to make the victims whole and said she intended to do it from prison.

But prosecutors showed no mercy, telling the court how Shah had once laughed at the fact that one of his victims had called the company crying over the fact that he was losing all his money.

Shah, one of the most bombastic characters in his Bravo reality series franchise, denied any wrongdoing for months.

He then upended his guilty plea in July following the guilty plea of ​​his former assistant, Stuart Smith.