Andy Cohen Stumbles When Asked Why He ‘Sided’ With Jen Shah in Fraud Case: ‘Oh God’

usmagazine.com:

He didn’t plead the fifth! During a CNN sit-down, Andy Cohen got flustered and stumbled over his response when asked why he initially took Jen Shah’s “side” in her fraud case.“You’re on the record last November as saying that you hope she would get no jail time,” Chris Wallace questioned the Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen host, 54, during the interview, which aired on Sunday, January 15. “And the question I have is: Why would you take her side against the thousands of people she defrauded, including a lot of elderly?”Cohen, who scrunched up his face while trying to think back, replied, “I think that I was hoping she was actually innocent.”Wallace, 75, fired back, “She pleaded guilty!”The Bravo star attempted to correct the veteran journalist by pointing out that he said that before the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star pleaded guilty — “I think,” Cohen said — but Wallace noted it was after.“Oh, really?

Oh, God,” Cohen cringed, laughing. “Wow, this is fun.”Shah, 49, and her assistant, Stuart Smith, were arrested in March 2021 while RHOSLC cameras were rolling.

The two were booked on conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing and conspiracy to commit money laundering.Manhattan U.S.

Attorney Audrey Strauss claimed in a press release at the time that the duo “allegedly generated and sold ‘lead lists’ of innocent individuals for other members of their scheme to repeatedly scam.” HSI Special Agent-in-Charge Peter C.