Andy Cohen says he is “extremely upset” after learning that Jen Shah has pleaded guilty in her pending fraud case.
“I’m angry, and I’m especially angry at her victims,” Cohen, 54, said Wednesday on his SiriusXM show “Andy Cohen Live.”
“I am angry that she lied for so long and claimed to me that she was an example of someone who was wrongly accused.”
The ‘Watch What Happens Live’ host added that seeing Shah’s ‘dogmatic’ declaration of innocence at the ‘Real Housewives of Salt Lake City’ reunion led him to believe that ‘this woman [should] have her day” in court.
“I’m very upset about what she did. I’m also upset because, frankly, you get to know someone and start to like them,” Cohen explained, pointing out that he wanted to “encourage” her.
Cohen’s new comments are a far cry from his initial reaction, when he said he didn’t know how to feel about the reality star’s plea of guilty.
“While we were on air Monday, the news broke about Jen Shah pleading guilty,” Cohen clarified.
“I didn’t have time to read about it, digest it, we were in the air. I really didn’t have time to react, to process it.”
Cohen, who serves as an executive producer on the “Real Housewives” franchises, teased that they filmed the entire season with Shah, 48, earlier this year. However, he did not clarify whether Bravo cameras were rolling when Shah pleaded guilty.
“I have a lot of questions for her, and I’m sure the public, especially those who supported her and stood by her, do too,” he said. “I really hope to get a chance to talk to her and ask those questions.”
Shah shook the Bravoverse Monday when she pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit telemarketing in connection with telemarketing a week before she was due to stand trial.
The reality star’s sentencing is scheduled for November 2022 and she faces up to 30 years in prison. In her plea, she requested that her sentence be reduced to 11 to 14 years.
Shah, whose arrest was filmed for “RHOSLC” in March 2021, initially pleaded not guilty to allegedly defrauding hundreds of mostly elderly victims in a telemarketing scheme.
“Jen pleaded guilty because she wants to pay her debt to society and put this ordeal behind her and her family,” Shah’s lawyer, Priya Chaudhry, told Vidak For Congress Monday after her court appearance.
“Madam. Shah is a good woman who has crossed a line. She takes full responsibility for her actions and offers her deepest apologies to all those who have been harmed.”
Shah himself has yet to hear the guilty plea.