Mary Cosby has issued an apology for her comments directed at Jen Shah on Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. Mary has a reputation for making odd remarks on the Bravo series. But this time, she clearly crossed a line.
Throughout the cast trip to Vail, there were two major topics of conversation. One was the arrest of Jen Shah, which occurred on camera. But once Jen's legal issues were known, the Utah Housewives started digging into the accusations that Mary is a cult leader. The 48-year-old bristled at being compared to Jen, telling Lisa Barlow that their co-star was "a thug...like, you know, those Mexican people that make all those drugs." The comment caused a ton of backlash for on social media being racially insensitive. Eventually, Mary apologized, in her typically unique way.
Mary posted the apology on her Instagram on December 12th, a week after the episode with her controversial remarks aired. As she apologized, Mary admitted to using "poor judgement in my choice of words." She continued, "I was not trying to single out the Mexican culture," writing,"I am African American and I know racism first hand. I've lived it daily my entire life." She concluded the post by writing, "It is important to me that you hear this apologize directly from me. My comment was wreckless [sic] .. unintentional. I am truly sorry!" Bizarrely, she included the hashtag "#apologyaccepted" alongside "#makeitright #love#latinos #saltlakecity #seektruth #seeklove #loveyou." Notably, the church leader closed the comments on her post. During the same episode as this infamous comment, viewers also criticized her for body-shaming Heather Gay. Mary, who previously called Heather racist, did not address this charge in the apology.
While Lisa reacted to the comment with stunned silence on the show, she made it clear Mary was out of line. When a fan tweeted their disappoint about her not calling Mary out for the racist remark , Lisa responded, "I do. Keep watching." The New York native has found herself in the middle of the accusations surrounding her co-star. Lisa was close friends with Cameron Williams, a former member of Mary's church who has since passed away She told the other women that he experienced extreme religious trauma, and had to sell his house. On one episode, Cameron memorably told Meredith Marks, who is feuding with Jen Shah, to be careful of Mary.
She may have apologized for the racially insensitive comment, but that doesn't mean the speculation about Mary's church is going away any time soon. Lisa isn't the only co-star to speak out against her. Whitney Rose also turned on Mary after she called her "little girl" and sent a series of insulting text messages. On the other hand, despite the warning from Cameron, Meredith has continued to stand by Mary. She even defended her friend in a recent Watch What Happens Live appearance.
Jen Shah's legal troubles aren't going away either. After a recent Hulu doc, she tried to have the charges dismissed. However, a federal judge rejected Jen's appeal. Between this legal battle and the cult accusations, fans of the Bravo series are on the edge of their seats each episode.
Real Housewives of Salt Lake City season 2 airs Sunday nights at 9 pm EST on Bravo.
Source: Mary M. Cosby /Instagram, Lisa Barlow/Twitter