Jen Shah breaks silence on death of Mary Cosby’s son

Ancient “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” star Jen Shah recently broke his silence on his position Mary Cosby. The couple argued constantly during the first two seasons of the Bravo reality series. However, their relationship ended after Shah’s imprisonment in February 2023. In his first interview since his release, Shah spoke about his reported crimes and his relationship with several of his former co-stars.

Jen Shah reached out to Mary Cosby after her son’s sudden death in February 2026

Shah and Cosby have a complicated history, as shown in previous episodes of “RHOSLC.” Despite the past, Shah recently told PEOPLE that she decided to contact Cosby privately after learning of her son’s death at age 23.

“I felt like it was the respectful thing to do, so I sent her a card and just told her how deeply sorry I was to hear of Robert Jr.’s passing and that she was in my family’s prayers every day,” Shah said.

According to a report from The Blast, Robert Cosby Jr. was pronounced dead in Salt Lake City in February 2026 after police responded to a call about a potential overdose.

Jen Shah explains why she reached out to Cosby privately rather than speaking out publicly

Several “Real Housewives” stars have publicly shown their support for Cosby. Shah, however, said she contacted Cosby privately for a specific reason.

“I wanted to write to her and let her know that even though I obviously hadn’t spoken to her in a few years while I was gone, I care about her, especially with what she’s going through right now,” Shah said. “And I chose to reach out privately because I didn’t want it to be a distraction. … I wanted to keep it about what Mary was going through, about her son and honor her memory.”

Cosby confirmed his son’s death in an Instagram post, according to The Blast, saying he had “been called home to the Lord.”

She added, “Even though our hearts hurt, we are comforted by God’s promise and knowing that He is finally at peace. We are grateful for your prayers and trust in the Lord to help us through this time of sadness.”

Jen Shah talks about life behind bars

Elsewhere, in his latest interview, Shah opened up about his experience behind bars.

For those unfamiliar, the former reality TV star was sentenced to nearly eight years in prison in the summer of 2022 after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

U.S. prosecutors alleged Shah was the mastermind of a massive telemarketing scheme aimed at defrauding elderly and other vulnerable victims.

In prison, Shah said she had to walk around with a pink card, likened to a “scarlet letter,” informing others that she was a high-profile inmate.

“I had to carry him around and report to officers every two hours,” she said.

Shah said being in prison was like a “BravoCon meet and greet”

While behind bars at FPC Bryan in Texas, Shah said she met many fans of the “Real Housewives” franchise.

“Look, it was like a meeting with BravoCon when I got there,” she said. “Literally.”

“I didn’t know there were so many fans there,” Shah continued. “I’ve had people come up to me and say, ‘Hello, I’m the president of the Salt Lake City fan club in Louisiana.’

However, when Shah first entered, prison staff had to remove Bravo from the televisions due to the extra attention she was drawing to herself.

“They had taken Bravo off all television because it was getting a lot of attention,” she said. “But after a few months they put it back… and from then on it was chaos.”

How did Shah become involved in the alleged scheme that sent her to prison?

During her interview, Shah spoke candidly about how she found herself at the center of the legal battle that sent her to prison.

“It’s a long and very complex journey that has brought me to this point,” she revealed on the subject. “And without restarting the litigation, I became involved in the affair because I had made horrible business decisions and ignored huge red flags. I allowed the lines to blur between personal friendships and ethical business practices. And essentially, I trusted the wrong people at a very vulnerable time in my life.”