Kelly Ripa’s Close Friend Andy Cohen Blasted for Supporting Fraudster Jen Shah Despite Pleading Guilty
Andy Cohen is close friends with Live! co-host Kelly Ripa. There was a time when her close pal made a rather insensitive remark in November last year regarding Jen Shah. Those remarks were hurtful for many netizens as Shah is a convicted fraudster who was sentenced to 78 months in prison after she pleaded guilty to a count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Back in November last year, Cohen in an interview with Us Weekly supported the fraudster and hoped that she won’t get any jail time when he was promoting his partnership with Fresca Mixed.
Andy Cohen Hoped Jen Shah Would Get No Jail Time
Back in November last year, TV show host Andy Cohen remarked the convicted fraudster, Jen Shah regarding her return for season 4 of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City(RHOSLC).
At the time, the executive producer of RHOSLC shared,
“She’s being sentenced on December 15, so I don’t know what to say to people who want her on the show,” adding, “I hope that she gets no jail time whatsoever and she can come right back … but I have a feeling that she’s not going to be available to be on the show.”
For the unversed, Shah was initially charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
She was arrested in early 2021 for scamming many people, specifically elder people. She initially pleaded not guilty to the two charges reported against her however changed her plea to guilty in July last year, just one week before her trial was scheduled to happen. On January 6, this year, she was sentenced to 78 months of prison and five years of supervised release once out.
Chris Wallace Slammed Andy Cohen for Supporting Jen Shah
American journalist, Chris Wallace in an interview with the 54-year-old TV host asked why he supported Shah back in November even though she pleaded guilty to her crimes.
Initially, Cohen answered, “I think I was hoping that she was actually innocent,” before the host interrupted and reminded him that she had already pleaded for what she did with “thousands of people she defrauded, including a lot of elderly [people]”
The Watch What Happens Live host stated, “That was before she pleaded guilty, I mean, that I said that, I would think?”
Wallace reminded him that his statement clearly came after she changed her plea to guilty in July last year. To his response, the latter was taken aback by what he did at the time. He then shared, “Oh, God. Um, anyway! Wow, this is fun.”
He tried to save himself by stating that the show’s viewers were demanding her status on the show. Though he later admitted that she did “something bad” which is why she should go to jail. However, he stated that he never wanted to believe that Shah would be committing such a crime.
Source: CNN
