Andy Cohen defends hope Real Housewives star Jen Shah won’t get jail time in new interview

Andy Cohen has defended his initial response to Real Housewives Of Salt Lake City star Jen Shah’s telemarketing scheme and his hope that she wouldn’t get a jail sentence.

The TV host, 54, was interviewed by CNN’s Chris Wallace, 75, on Sunday, who said: “You said publicly last November that you hoped she wouldn’t get a sentence from jail.” Why would you side with her against the thousands of people she has defrauded, including many old people?

The Bravo exec explained, “I think I was hoping she was actually innocent. However, Wallace quickly replied, “She pleaded guilty!”

“It was before she pleaded guilty, I mean, that I said that, I think?” Cohen responded to grilling on Shah, 49.

– No, replied Wallace, I think it was after.

‘Oh really?’ Cohen — who serves as an executive producer on the Real Housewives franchises — responded, sounding sheepish, “Oh, my God. Uh, anyway! Wow, that’s fun.

Cohen said he did not recall the exact “context” of his comment, but said viewers “demanded” to know Shah’s status on the show.

“And I’m like, ‘It’s up to the judge to decide. She’s about to get a lot of jail time,” he told Wallace, who reminded him that Shah “did something wrong.”

‘Yes she did. And so, she should go to jail,” he agreed.

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

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

“She’s going to be sentenced on December 15, so I don’t know what to say to people who want her on the show.” I hope she doesn’t get jailed and can come back right away… but I have a feeling she won’t be available to be on the show,’ he 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 was a cast member of RHOSLC for all of her three seasons on Bravo beginning from November 2020.

Shah was sentenced to six and a half years in prison earlier this month, for years running a telemarketing scheme which prosecutors say targeted the elderly and vulnerable, robbing them of their savings and maxing out their cards credit.

She pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in July in a dramatic U-turn of defense. She is due to report for jail on Feb. 17 and will serve her sentence in a Texas facility.

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

But prosecutors showed no mercy, telling the court how Shah once laughed when one of his victims called the company in tears about losing all his money.

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

She then drastically changed her plea in July following the guilty plea of ​​her former assistant, Stuart Smith.