The Bravo personality's legal team claims in the court documents that she is playing a fictionalized version of herself on the Bravo reality TV series.
- Feb 18, 2022
AceShowbiz - Jen Shah filed a new motion to request "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" footage not to be shown during her upcoming wire fraud and money laundering trial. In the court documents obtained by PEOPLE, the TV star's attorneys believed that the clips didn't need to be shown.
"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. Jen's legal team claimed that she is playing a fictionalized version of herself on the show.
Of the "fictionalized version," the lawyers described that it is someone "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 stated. It was also said that the Bravo TV show "highly edited and crafted through post-production."
Back in March, Jen and her assistant Stuart Smith were arrested and charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. The pair pleaded not guilty during an arraignment later in April of the same year. However, Smith changed plea to guilty in late November.
Stuart is now waiting for a sentencing hearing on March 3 and faces a maximum of 70 years in prison. Meanwhile, Jen keeps maintaining her innocence.
Last December, Jen and her legal team requested that a judge dismiss the fraud charges. They argued that the Hulu documentary "The Housewife & the Shah Shocker", which is about her ongoing legal problems, is "reprehensible" and will "severely jeopardize" her right to a fair trial.
"What I have been accused of is absolutely the complete opposite of anything I would do in my life," Jen said in an episode "RHOSLC". "If I have any fault, it's because I'm too giving and I help too many people," she added in a confessional.
