‘I was hoping she was actually innocent’: Andy Cohen on siding with Jen Shah after she pleaded guilty
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Andy Cohen, the host of 'Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen,' and executive producer of 'The Real Housewives' series, was put on the spot during a recent CNN interview when questioned about his initial support for the reality star Jen Shah in her fraud case. Shah pleaded for leniency in a statement to the court last month, citing that her actions were in part a result of 'some personal painful experiences' she was going through in her life, including the deaths of her father and grandmother.
During the interview, which aired on Sunday, January 15, host Chris Wallace brought up a statement Cohen made in November 2022 in which he expressed hope that Shah would receive no jail time. Cohen was visibly flustered and eventually claimed that he was unsure about the context when he initially made the comment. Shah is an ex-star on 'The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City' but will not be returning to the show.
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'I think that I was hoping she was actually innocent'
During the CNN interview, Wallace asked Cohen why he had taken her side initially, who claimed that he was under the impression the comments were made before Jen Shah had pleaded guilty: "I think that I was hoping she was actually innocent." Wallace, however, pointed out that Shah had already pleaded guilty to the charges. Cohen, struggling to recall the context of his previous statement, responded with, "Oh, really? Oh, God. Wow, this is fun." Cohen eventually explained himself: "I think I was saying, ‘Look, you know, sometimes you get to know someone and you get to like them, you hope they are not guilty of something horrible.'"
Jen Shah was recently sentenced to six and a half years in prison for her involvement in a telemarketing fraud scheme and will also undergo five years of supervised release upon her release from prison. According to the court order, Shah's supervised release will include mental health treatment that is approved by the US Probation Office.
Shah and her assistant, Stuart Smith, were arrested in March 2021 while the show was still filming. They were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Shah pleaded guilty to the charges in July 2022 and issued a statement of apology, saying, "I knew this was wrong. I knew many people were harmed and I’m so sorry."
It is assumed that even Andy Cohen was left blindsided by the incident and the initial comments were merely made in the heat of the moment.