Andy Cohen doesn’t know how to react to Jen Shah’s conviction more than a year after she was charged with conspiracy to commit electronic fraud in connection with telemarketing.
“I don’t know how to feel about that, Jen Shah pleads guilty,” Cohen said on Tuesday’s “Radio Andy” episode on Sirius XM.
The 54-year-old Bravo producer also said he was hesitant to call the “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” star “guilty.”
“All it means is that your petition is changing,” he said about Monday’s legal bombing.
Cohen then explained that he was even more surprised by the change of statement because Shah had just sent a gift to his 2-month-old daughter, Lucy.
“I said, ‘Jen Shah, with everything you’re going through, you thought about sending a present to Lucy …’ I found her very kind to me,” Cohen, who is also the father of a 3-year-old child. son Ben – he added.
Andy Cohen said he did not “know how to feel” when Jen Shah pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud. NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
However, theater actor John Hill, who presented Tuesday’s radio show with Cohen, sided with the victims of the alleged reality star’s telemarketing scheme.
“When you say you’re guilty of something, it may mean you’re guilty,” he argued.
One person who called assessed the situation and compared Shah to “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Teresa Giudice, who pleaded guilty to fraud in 2014 and, as a result, served 15 months in the federal prison.
“It simply came to our notice then [Teresa] for years, ”said the person who called, hinting that Shah would have the same loyalty on the part of the fans.
Shah changed his request on Monday after initially claiming he was innocent. Alec Tabak
Hill and Cohen noted that the cases were different, however, because Shah’s actions allegedly affected people, many of whom were over 55 years old.
Cohen said: “What I found about the viewer’s response to some of those moments that have passed [is that] Some of the spectators are more outraged when there are, you know, when you look at Tom Girardi and what he seems to have done, real victims that you can look at. ”
(Girardi, the separated husband of “RHOBH” star Erika Jayne, is being sued for allegedly embezzling liquidation funds intended for the survivors of the victims of Lion Air Flight 610.)
“When you look at Joe Giudice scamming the government with some tax money, I think you end up more upset when you know there are victims,” he continued, referring to Teresa’s ex-husband, who was also declared guilty of fraud in 2014.
Shah’s arrest was reduced while filming season 2 of “RHOSLC.” NBCU photo bank via Getty Images
Shah was arrested in March 2021 for allegedly defrauding hundreds of victims in a telemarketing plan. He initially pleaded not guilty to all charges and repeatedly defended his innocence in the following months.
However, on Monday he surprised fans when he filed a last-minute motion to change his statement to guilty, just days before the trial began.
Shah’s lawyer, Priya Chaudhry, said on page Six that the “RHOSLC” star “accepts full responsibility for his actions” and modified his request because “he wants to pay his debt to society and leaving this test behind her and her family. “
Shah’s sentence is set for November 28.