Andy Cohen is speaking out after Jen Shah claimed he was still upset about her declining a one-on-one interview with him before beginning her prison sentence.
On Wednesday’s episode of SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live, Cohen, 55, discussed how the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star, 50, called him out on social media after Heather Gay alleged that Shah was the one who caused her black eye on season 4 finale of the Bravo show Tuesday night.
When they came into David’s presence, he was startled by them. They said, “Have no fear. ˹We are merely˺ two in a dispute: one of us has wronged the other. So judge between us with truth—do not go beyond ˹it˺—and guide us to the right way.(The Quran - Chapter Sad : 22)
“As someone who was just the victim of an online and phone scam where I lost a lot of money, this message comes at an interesting time,” the Watch What Happens Live host said, referring to a recent incident in which he was scammed by someone pretending to be his bank. (His scamming incident had no connection to Shah.)
“So, let me just say that. I just need to predicate that I'm a current victim of fraud, which is what she is in jail for,” he added. “I'm not connecting her, I'm not saying that she's responsible for it, but I'm just saying it's ironic that I happened to-”
“But it's a hateful thing she was involved in,” his co-host John Hill interjected.
The Bravo executive argued that the network would have aired footage of the black eye incident between Gay and Shah if it had been filmed, explaining, “I don't want to be captain obvious here, but if we had footage, don't you think we would've aired it? Do you think we wouldn't have said, ‘Heather.’ Heather's saying, ‘I don't know how I got the black eye,’ and then don't you think we would've cut to the footage with a chyron that said, ‘Four hours earlier.’ Pop.”
He also addressed Shah’s accusation that he was still holding a grudge against her for not doing a one-on-one interview in the lead up to her 5.5-year prison sentence for her role in a long-running telemarketing scheme.
“I had forgotten about the one-on-one with Jen,” he shared. “She is right. I did want to do a one-on-one with her. I don't care about it anymore. I'm over it.”
“Her stipulations were insane. She wanted, in exchange for this, I'm trying to remember the specifics. I know she wanted us to do a docuseries of her days leading up to jail,” he claimed. “She wanted a lot of money and she was still professing her innocence, so it would've been another interview of her sitting across from me lying to my face, which we got at two reunions from her, so that's that. That's my response to that.”
After Gay, 49, finally claimed it was Shah who gave her the mystery injury during Tuesday's season 4 finale of the Bravo series, the imprisoned reality star responded on her Instagram Story.
Shah wrote, “BRAVO, if I punched Heather in her eye, you guys would have footage to prove it. It’s clear the show can’t live without me since I was brought up at the beginning, middle and end of season 4.”
The mom of two continued, “Andy [Cohen] is still butt hurt that I turned down his 1:1 interview. Why would you sit down with someone who 'gave' another cast member a black eye? Next story.”
Gay’s claim came as she and her costars Lisa Barlow, Meredith Marks and Whitney Rose confronted new Housewife Monica Garcia over her alleged involvement in the Instagram troll account Reality Von Tease.
"We are friends, and we have been through this b---s--- before with Jen," said Gay, adding that the women "shut down feelings of doubt" with the ex-Housewife and “things that didn’t add up.”
"I went on book tour and defended her and took s--- for the fact that she gave me a black eye," she claimed.
Part 1 of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City reunion airs on Tuesday, Jan. 9 at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo.
