When Meredith Marks got the call that Jen Shah had been arrested on fraud charges, she was not shocked at all. She was waiting for the rest of the cast at a luxurious rental chateau in Vail, Colorado where she prompted drew a bubble bath, and sipped on champagne. By the time Mary Cosby arrived at the house, Meredith was waiting for her in the bath, ready to discuss, with unhidden glee, the downfall of Jen Shah.
“Honestly, I’m not surprised by this,” she told Lisa Barlow during the initial phone call.
“Why are you not surprised, Meredith? Do you know something? Did she tell you something?” Jennie, who could hear the conversation, asked.
“Too many things didn’t add up and I have suspected that something was going on for a while,” Meredith said. “The good news is while everything else is falling apart around us, we do have a beautiful house here. Love you guys. See you soon. Mwah!”
When Lisa noted that she felt like she really didn’t know Jen, Meredith replied “I feel like I kind of did but that not everyone wanted to listen or believe me.”
What, exactly did Meredith know?
When Mary arrived to find Meredith in the bath, Mary was shocked by Meredith’s lack of proper etiquette when greeting guests. She was also “heartbroken” over the news of Jen’s arrest. Meredith’s face indicated that she wasn’t experiencing sadness.
Meredith went on to explain that she thought the person on the other end of Jen’s phone call, the one where she got news that Sharrieff was in the hospital with internal bleeding, “tipped Jen off” about the FBI, Homeland Security and “entire SWAT team” coming to arrest her.
Mary was overcome by the news about the swarm of authorities that came for Jen, and needed a minute to digest the information. Meredith used this moment to share that she wasn’t surprised at all by all of this.
“I’m blown away,” Mary says. She said in interview that she was “filled with compassion” for Jen despite their bad experiences together. She later goes on to condemn Jen for living a life of fraud behind closed doors. “I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night,” Mary said about the idea.
“FBI doesn’t get involved unless there’s facts,” Mary says.
“Unless there was an insider that gave them the information,” Meredith said, implying that maybe she knows even more than she’s letting on.
Meredith then explained why she’s feeling such schadenfreude about Jen’s downfall. “I have been traumatized and terrorized. Me, my family, my business, for almost two years by this woman and I just waited quietly. Because I don’t point my fingers when I don’t have the facts. And you know what? This now suddenly adds up. Do I still say that she may be innocent? Sure, of course it’s possible. Do I believe it?” she shakes her head and waves her fingers dismissively.
Meredith has had a contentious history with Jen Shah. Jen has gone after her son on social media because he didn’t like that she flashed him. Her social media accounts have posted and liked homophobic comments about Meredith’s son Brooks, and Jen has made condescending comments about what she thinks his sexuality is.
On the most recent episode, “Highway to Vail,” Meredith accused one of Jen’s employees of stealing a handbag from her store. There was even video surveillance footage of someone picking up a bag.
Jen has denied that this happened on Twitter and on the After Show. “If that’s the truth, b–ch, call the police. Call 9-1-1. If someone stole from you, call 9-1-1. Or, if you think [it’s] someone on my team, why wouldn’t you call me?” she argued on the After Show. “Why wouldn’t you call me? Because it’s bulls—t. We literally were in there to support your little 200-square-foot swap meet.”
