Jen Shah Files Motion to Request ‘RHOSLC’ Footage Not Be Shown During Her Fraud Trial

BY: Denver Sean

Published 3 years ago

Jen Shah wants to make sure her portrayal on ‘The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City’ doesn’t affect her fraud trial.

via People:

In court documents obtained by PEOPLE, the reality star’s attorneys filed a new motion to request that clips from the hit Bravo show not be shown during her upcoming wire fraud and money laundering trial.

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“There is no circumstance under which a clip of Jen Shah from her appearance on the RHOSLC should be used in court as these clips do not have any of the indicia of reliability,” the lawyers stated in documents.

Shah’s legal team argued that the 48-year-old is playing a fictionalized version of herself on the show “who is molded by the requirements of being on the RHOSLC.” They also claimed in the documents that the show has been “highly curated and edited to satisfy” its dramatic storylines.

“The women and their lives are both real and fake and it is impossible to tell where reality ends and fantasy and outright deception and fakery begins,” the docs state, later adding that RHOSLC is “highly edited and crafted through post-production.”

In March, Shah and her assistant Stuart Smith were arrested and charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing — through which they allegedly victimized 10 or more persons over the age of 55 — and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. 

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The pair pleaded not guilty during an arraignment in April, but by late November, Smith, 43, had changed his plea to guilty.

He now awaits a sentencing hearing on March 3 and faces a maximum of 70 years in prison, the presiding judge said during the plea hearing. Meanwhile, Shah has maintained her innocence.

In December, Shah and her lawyers requested that a judge dismiss the fraud charges, claiming the Hulu documentary The Housewife & the Shah Shocker about her ongoing legal problems is “reprehensible” and will “severely jeopardize” her right to a fair trial.

Shah has previously opened up about her legal troubles on an episode of RHOSLC, telling one of her lawyers, Clayton Simms, that the ordeal was “surreal.”

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“What I have been accused of is absolutely the complete opposite of anything I would do in my life. If I have any fault, it’s because I’m too giving and I help too many people,” she added in a confessional.

She’s not necessarily wrong here. Reality show TV clips are ‘heavily edited.’

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