‘RHOSLC’ Star Mary Cosby Apologizes After Backlash to ‘Reckless’ Jen Shah Comment

The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Mary Cosby is apologizing for making a comment that fans felt was racist in nature. During the Dec. 5 episode, she became emotional while speaking to co-star Lisa Barlow about how their castmates compared allegations made about her role of pastor as a church allegedly being a cult, to that of Jen Shah’s currently legal woes. Shah is accused of running a pyramid scheme. “It’s not fair to put me with someone so…like, when I think about Jen, I see a heartless…I see a thug,” Cosby told Barlow. “Like, you know, those Mexican people that make all those drugs. To pit me with that?!”

Cosby received much backlash online for defaming Mexican culture. Ahead of the Dec. 12 episode premiere, Cosby took to Instagram to apologize. “I would like to take this opportunity to address a comment I made on the last episode of RHOSLC,” she wrote in part. “I used poor judgment in my choice of words. Please accept my apologies. I was not trying to single out the Mexican culture. I am African American and I know racism first hand. I’ve lived it daily my entire life. It is important to me that you hear this apology directly from me. My comment was reckless. Unintentional. I am truly sorry!”

This isn’t the first time Cosby has come under attack for comments she made on the show that viewers and her co-stars felt could be taken as racist. During Season 1, she allegedly made comments about being scared of convenience stores and not going to 7-eleven because of thugs who hang in front of the store. She also came under fire for saying she prefers lighter-skinned Black men.

Cosby denied ever making the 7-Eleven comment. “I said I have a fear [of] when guys are standing out in front of a convenience store,” she told Andy Cohen at the reunion special. When Cohen asked her specifically, “Black guys?” Cosby answered by, saying, “I’m black. My son is black.” Cosby also told Cohen that she needs to be more cognizant of her words. She added: “I need to improve on the way I convey things…The way I say things can come across [as] offensive. I think all colors of black are beautiful and I’m proud of it and I’m proud of my culture.”