“I have mad respect for her. She has been able to be an advocate and affect change for people who have been wrongly accused of crimes,” Shah says in an exclusive clip of the RHOSLC After Show
In an exclusive clip from Sunday’s Real Housewives of Salt Lake City After Show, Shah, 48, reveals that she was “100% serious” about bringing Kardashian on to help with her case, which she previously teased during a recent episode of her Bravo show.
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“Listen, Kim Kardashian is not officially part of the Shah squad legal team yet,” Shah says in the clip. “People thought I was joking around when I was like, ‘Do we need to add Kim Kardashian to our legal team?’ I was deada— 100 serious.”
“She has been able to be an advocate and affect change for people who have been wrongly accused of crimes,” Shah explains. “They’re innocent and then she has been able to help be part of the movement to, you know, go fight for them at the White House or with [the] government to get them released.”
In the clip, the reality star also opens about how she is handling the accusations against her, which she feels she’s been “wrongly accused” of.
“I don’t take this lightly… It’s my life and more importantly, it’s my family’s life. I care about them more than anything,” she admits. “I don’t want my kids or my husband or my mom or my family affected by this and so I have to fight and I have to have faith in the justice system.”
Shah goes on to explain how it has been “eye-opening” to receive education about the justice system before her trial and that she hopes to fight for other people in the same situation.
“I’m representing not only my family but I’m representing everybody out there that has ever been wrongly accused or wrongly convicted of a crime that they didn’t do, and if I have the means to fight, I’m going to fight,” she says. “I’m going to fight because what is happening is not right and this has not only happened to me.”
In March, Shah and her assistant Stuart Smith were arrested and charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing — through which they allegedly victimized 10 or more persons over the age of 55 — and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The pair pleaded not guilty during an arraignment in April, but by late November, Smith, 43, had changed his plea to guilty. He now awaits a sentencing hearing on March 3 and faces a maximum of 70 years in prison, the presiding judge said during the plea hearing. Meanwhile, Shah has maintained her innocence.
In December, Shah and her lawyers requested that a judge dismiss the fraud charges, claiming the Hulu documentary The Housewife & the Shah Shocker about her ongoing legal problems is “reprehensible” and will “severely jeopardize” her right to a fair trial.
Most recently, Shah’s attorneys filed a new motion to request that clips from RHOSLC not be shown during her upcoming trial. They argued she is playing a fictionalized version of herself on the show “who is molded by the requirements of being on the RHOSLC.”
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Shah has previously opened up about her legal troubles on RHOSLC, telling one of her lawyers, Clayton Simms, during one episode that the ordeal was “surreal.”
“What I have been accused of is absolutely the complete opposite of anything I would do in my life. If I have any fault, it’s because I’m too giving and I help too many people,” she said in a confessional.
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City Reunion Part One airs Sunday at 9 PM ET/PT on Bravo, and you can catch the RHOSLC After Show exclusively on BravoTV.com, beginning at 10 PM ET/PT.
