'RHOSLC' Star Jen Shah Denies Being 'Red-Flagged' At Louis Vuitton For Paying In Cash, Scoffs At Meredith Marks' Claim Her Employee Stole
Nov. 15 2021, Published 12:32 p.m. ET
Jen Shah is continuing to plead her innocence.
Sunday's explosive episode of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City documented the moment the 48-year-old married mother of two was arrested, taken into custody and charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. In March, she and her "first assistant," Stuart Smith, were accused of running a nationwide telemarketing scheme that defrauded particularly vulnerable people (like the elderly) for nine years. They both pleaded not guilty.
But that was just the tip of the episode's iceberg.
While most of the cast was absolutely shocked by what had just transpired while on their way to Vail, Colorado, for a girls trip, one person – Meredith Marks – remained completely unfazed by the situation. She told her co-stars she saw it all coming from a mile away, then made two jaw-dropping claims about Jen.
The first was that she heard that Shah had been "red-flagged" at Louis Vuitton for always paying for her purchases in cash. The second was that one of Jen's "Shah Squad" employees stole merchandise from Marks' store.
What's interesting is that several months ago, an anonymous tipster told celebrity gossip Instagram page Deuxmoi that there was a Bravo Housewife, "not East coast and NOT OC," who "loves to show off her closet" who had been "placed on Louis Vuitton's Do Not Sell list for two years minimum because she was caught buying/reselling loads of merchandise."
Following Sunday's episode of RHOSLC, a Twitter user dredged up the old tip and wrote, "Woah that blind item about a Housewife and Louis Vuitton was about Jen? Interesting... Everyone thought it was about Dorit [Kemsley]..."
Responding to the post, Shah insisted, "Oh please...this is not about me."
She also denied that her employee had snatched a small handbag from Meredith's Park City shop last fall, despite damning surveillance video footage that appeared to show just that.
According to Marks, she and her family were out of town when Jen and her crew stopped by. Marks said her store manager called her and said a snakeskin clutch was notably missing after Jen and her associates had left.
"[My manager told me], 'There is a green clutch that I know was here. Her friends were holding it, and it is gone," Meredith told her co-stars. "So I said to my manager, 'Send her a text and just gently say, 'Did you borrow it?' And within 30 seconds, my manager's phone is ringing, and on the other end is [redacted]. And [redacted] says, 'I'll bring the bag back tomorrow.'"
Video of both the alleged theft from a male and the item's return flashed across the screen.
"Jen did not walk out with a bag," Marks made sure to clarify in a later confessional. "But what really didn't sit well with me is she kept someone who she knew did take something out of my store in her employment. That's not my friend."
When one Twitter user pointed out that the ladies were doing her "dirty" by telling all her "business," Shah fired back, "They not telling my business…only lies."
"Jen, they had you on tape walking out w the snake skin clutch, sis!" argued one person, prompting Jen to hit back, "No they didn't. That's not accurate AT ALL WHATSOEVER."
Another fan posted, "Meredith doesn't like when someone talks about her or her family but she has NO problem running her mouth about everyone else," to which Jen reposted, "Where's the LIE???"
"Sweetie it is on camera! The gig is up, you are not only a fraud but a pathological liar!" another critic tried to point out.
"What is on camera??" Shah responded. "Is this like when my vagina was supposedly on camera (but it never was)? Asking for a friend."
Jen ended her night of Twitter defenses with a simple: "@MeredithMarks0 Get well soon sweetie xo."
According to Christian Gray Snow (who interviewed Shah's former designer), fans can soon expect a documentary chronicling her legal woes, similar to Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne's The Housewife and the Hustler special that aired earlier this year.