Despite being behind bars, Jen Shah is staying involved in the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City drama!
Following the RHOSLC season 4 finale on Tuesday night, a post to Jen’s Instagram story vehemently denied former castmate Heather Gay’s claim that Jen was the one who gave her the infamous black eye back in season 3.
“BRAVO, if I punched Heather in her eye, you guys would have footage to prove it,” the post read, with quotation marks around the text. “It’s clear the show can’t live without me since I was brought up at the beginning, middle and end of season 4.”
“Andy [Cohen] is still butt hurt that I turned down his 1:1 interview,” the post continued. “Why would you sit down with someone who ‘gave’ another cast member a black eye? Next story.”
Heather’s claim came as she and her co-stars confronted new cast member Monica Garcia for her alleged involvement with Reality Von Tea(se), a Gossip Girl-style Instagram account that anonymously targeted the members of the show, particularly Jen.
While the others took Monica to task for allegedly providing the account with details and videos of her cast mates, Heather was triggered by what she saw as yet another betrayal from someone who was supposed to be a friend and ally.
“I don’t think you understand something about this group,” she told Monica. “Listen to me: there’s something that you missed out on. We are friends, and we have been through this bulls**t before with Jen. For years, we were afraid. We’d wake up sick that a lie would be posted and told and spread and exposed and exploited, but we were in it with her. And we are the type of girls that ride or die, and each one of us, at different times, rode hard and we shut down feelings of doubt and things that didn’t f**king add up.”
“Who you are made no sense, but the way you acted was strangely familiar,” she continued. “And the pain that we went through and the way that we were tormented and tortured? I ate s**t every day for her. I felt like I had to lie to protect her. I did whatever it took. I went on book tour and defended her, and took s**t for the fact that she gave me a black eye.”
This reveal was news to co-stars Meredith Marks and Lisa Barlow, who audibly reacted to Heather’s reveal. Many RHOSLC fans and even some of her castmates have speculated that Jen might have been the cause of injury, though Heather claimed during the season 3 reunion special that she didn’t remember how she sustained the injury.
“I’m glad you finally told the truth for once. So, good for you,” Monica sarcastically fired back at Heather during the finale.
But Heather had heard enough.
“I had to ride hard for her and I had to lie for her,” she said of Jen. “We’re not going to do it again for you. Pack your bags and go.”
In July 2022, Jen pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. She began her six-and-a-half year prison sentence in February 2023.
The black eye controversy will be addressed in the final installment of the three-part Real Housewives of Salt Lake City season 4 reunion special, which airs Jan. 9, Jan. 16 and Jan. 23 at 8 p.m. PT/ET on Bravo.
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