'Real Housewives' star says she 'literally had PTSD for weeks' after law enforcement came looking for Jen Shah in the middle of filming
- Lisa Barlow opened up about federal agents coming to a "Real Housewives" shoot looking for Jen Shah.
- Shah, who stars with Barlow on "RHOSLC," was charged with wiretapping and money laundering in March.
Lisa Barlow said she "felt emotionally traumatized" when federal authorities came to a "Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" shoot looking for Jen Shah.
In March, the Justice Department charged Shah and her assistant Stuart Smith with wire fraud and money laundering. According to Variety, Shah's bail was set at $1 million after she was arrested, requiring $250,000 for the bond. Both Smith and Shah have since pleaded not guilty to the charges. The case is ongoing, and Shah's trial is currently set for March 2022, according to Page Six.
Part of Shah's run-in with the law was captured on-camera and included in the cold open for the latest season of "RHOSLC," as well as in Sunday's episode.
In the footage, Shah is seen sitting in a van with castmates Whitney Rose, Jennie Nguyen, Heather Gay, and Lisa Barlow on the way to a trip to Vail, Colorado, when she gets a phone call. Shah leaves the van and minutes later law enforcement shows up asking where Shah is.
Barlow opened up about the incident in a recent interview with Insider, saying that she "literally had PTSD for weeks from it" because she felt "emotionally traumatized."
The Vida tequila founder recalled that morning in March began relatively uneventfully, with her husband dropping her off at the van parked outside Gay's Beauty Lab+Laser store in Salt Lake City. Barlow said that soon afterward, Shah received a call and told her castmates that her husband, Sharrief, was "internally bleeding" and that she had to go be with him.
After Shah left, Barlow, Gay, Rose, and Nguyen debated waiting for Shah to get back from the hospital to see if she still wanted to go on the trip.
"Then within five minutes of her leaving, Homeland Security, FBI, NYPD all show up. It was a lot. There's men with guns," Barlow described the scene, also captured on camera.
She added: "You're seeing our most raw, in-the-moment reactions to the most insane situation."
Barlow continued that in her initial confusion, she thought someone had ordered pizza and the men were there to deliver it.
"At first I was like, there's an NYPD Pizza by my house," she said, referring to a since-closed New York-style pizza restaurant in Salt Lake City. "I was like, 'Did somebody get pizza?' Like, what is this? I was so confused."
Law enforcement asked the "RHOSLC" cast present at the time about Shah's whereabouts, adding that they "need to make sure she's safe" without giving the women any specifics as to why they were looking for Shah.
Ultimately, a security team member Barlow previously worked with told her that "there's some awful allegations about Jen Shah" shortly after news broke about the wiretapping and money laundering charges against Shah and Smith.
"I feel like we all felt emotionally traumatized, and it just starts opening the flood gates of questioning," Barlow admitted.
While Barlow is still processing the "intense" experience, Shah appears to be leaning into the news around the charges with her season two tagline: "The only thing I'm guilty of is being Shah-mazing."