Andy Cohen is used to being the one asking the tough questions. But this time, he found himself in the hot seat during an interview with seasoned reporter Chris Wallace. Given all the media attention around Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Jen Shah pleading guilty to a years long telemarketing scheme, Chris decided Andy had to answer for some of his previous statements about her possible sentence.
As reported by Page Six, Chris grilled Andy to the point of obvious discomfort. The CNN reported asked, “You’re on the record, last November, as saying that you hoped she would get no jail time. And the question I have is: Why would you take her side against the thousands of people she defrauded, including a lot of elderly [people]?”
Andy made a cringe face and offered, “I think I was hoping that she was actually innocent.” But Chris quickly retorted, “She pleaded guilty!”
In another attempt to mitigate such a tone deaf statement, Andy claimed he made the remarks before Jen plead guilty. “That was before she pleaded guilty, I mean, that I said that, I would think?” the Watch What Happens Live host remarked.
Nah, Mr. Wallace wasn’t about to do an interview without receipts so he quickly corrected Andy. Said Chris, “No. I think it was after.” And he would be correct given that Jen changed her plea to guilty in July of 2022.
A busted Andy replied, “Oh, really? Oh, God. Um, anyway! Wow, this is fun.” By fun I’m sure he means embarrassing! While he tried to pivot by using the “context” excuse, it didn’t really help matters. The Bravo exec explained that viewers were “demanding” to know Jen’s “status” on the franchise. “And I’m like, ‘It’s up to the judge. She’s about to get sentenced to a lot of jail time.’”
But once again, Chris wasn’t willing to let Andy off the hook and reminded him that Jen “did something bad.” Andy agreed on that point and admitted, “Yes, she did. And so, she should go to jail.” Duh! He then concluded, “You know, sometimes, if you get to know someone and you get to like them, you hope that they are not guilty of something horrible.”
The quote that earned Andy a slap down was made when he spoke to Us Weekly in November of 2022. He stated at the time, “She’s being sentenced on December 15, so I don’t know what to say to people who want her on the show. 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,” he added.
When Jen eventually pled guilty, Andy commented, “Once we wrapped [Season 3 and] she pled guilty, I think that was kind of, unfortunately, the end of, you know, the engagement there.”
Following the interview, with Chris, Andy got even more heat on social media. Page Six reported that he took to his Instagram Stories to clarify. Andy told fans,“I just want to clarify the context of what I said. I was saying it in response to people wanting to know if she was going to be back on the show. I knew that there had to be some context, and I should’ve asked him what it was,” he said.
TELL US – DO YOU THINK ANDY WAS WRONG FOR HIS COMMENTS ABOUT JEN? WERE YOU SURPRISED THAT HE THOUGHT SHE WAS INNOCENT? DOES ANDY HAVE THE WORST TAKES?
[Photo Credit: Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty Images]