Jen Shah will not be sitting down with Andy Cohen before she goes to jail.
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star, 49, was sentenced to 78 months (6.5 years) for her role in orchestrating a fraud scheme.
Shortly afterwards, Cohen, 54, said that he wanted to interview Shah before her prison sentence begins in February, stating on a recent episode of Sirius XM’s Radio Andy: “I’m hoping to go talk to Jen this weekend. I’m hopeful that I can do that sit down with her in front of some cameras and deliver that to you. I’m really hoping to do that.”
Shah has now responded and made it clear she has no plans to do an interview with the Bravo exec.
In a pointed Instagram message posted on Thursday, Shah wrote, “On January 6th, I stood before Judge Stein and asked him to see me not as a fictionalized character, but as the real Jen Shah. I am now at a point, legally, emotionally and mentally, where I can answer questions and provide a few unknown details about my case. I want and need to share these critical facts. I owe it to those that love and support me to hear the truth.”
“I will not be doing the 1:1 with Andy Cohen and Bravo because of their unwillingness to remove contractual provisions that would allow the network to legally make misrepresentations of me and my story, relating to any and all topics, prior to and during the course of my participation,” added Shah.
She noted that a one-on-one sit down with Cohen is not included in the terms of her reality TV contract for the Bravo series.
“I promised myself and my loving family that I would not allow this portion of my life to be sensationalized or inaccurately conveyed,” said Shah, who shares sons Sharrieff Jr., 28, and Omar, 19, with her husband Sharrieff.
She went on to acknowledge the individuals who “have been hurt by my actions and my inability to control my own narrative,” adding, “I would rather remain silent and wait until I am able to accurately share my story than continue having complete lies and misrepresentations about me smeared across the headlines.”
Shah concluded her message by reassuring fans: “You will hear from me. I will share my story and this painful part of my life very soon.”
A rep for Bravo had no comment when contacted by PEOPLE.
Shah and her assistant, Stuart Smith, were arrested in March 2021 for spearheading a phone scam to defraud people over the age of 55. Details later emerged about how the scheme claimed to offer tutoring course to prepare the victims for a salaried sales position.
Even after Smith entered a guilty plea in November 2021, Shah continued to proclaim her innocence — until she entered into a plea deal in July 2022 and admitted in court to her role in the scheme.
Shah’s prison sentence will begin on Feb. 17. Though Judge Stein would not specify the facility at her sentencing, Shah is expected to serve out her sentence somewhere in the “Texas region.” After she leaves prison, Judge Sidney Stein also ordered Shah to serve five years of supervised release “to make sure you don’t end up committing another crime,” said Stein.
Shah’s attorney Priya Chaudhry issued a statement to PEOPLE after the decision: “Jen Shah deeply regrets the mistakes that she has made and is profoundly sorry to the people she has hurt. Jen has faith in our justice system, understands that anyone who breaks the law will be punished, and accepts this sentence as just. Jen will pay her debt to society and when she is a free woman again, she vows to pay her debt to the victims harmed by her mistakes.”
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