Monica Garcia Slams Lisa Barlow for Calling Jen Shah ‘Harmless’ (Unless You’re Elderly)

Monica Garcia, former Real Housewives of Salt Lake City (RHOSLC) star, has openly criticized Lisa Barlow for suggesting that Jen Shah is “harmless” despite her involvement in serious criminal activities.

Lisa Barlow, who appeared as a guest on Scheana Shay’s Scheananigans podcast, surprised many fans when she defended her former friend and co-star Jen Shah. Jen, as Bravo fans know, was arrested in 2021 for her role in a large-scale telemarketing scheme that targeted elderly victims. She eventually pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and received a 6.5-year prison sentence. Jen is currently serving time at a Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas.

Following Jen’s arrest, most of the RHOSLC cast distanced themselves from her, expressing disappointment and betrayal upon learning the full extent of her crimes. Though many initially supported her, their stance shifted after she admitted to defrauding innocent people.

Lisa herself previously shared how traumatizing her interactions with Jen had been. She recounted, “Until you’ve experienced that or had Jen almost beat you up in a van or be mid-laugh and go to attack you, you don’t know what it’s like. And in a way, she gave every single one of us a black eye with her actions.”

However, during the podcast, Lisa appeared to soften her view. When Scheana Shay asked, “Do you stay in touch with any of your former castmates? Ever receive like any jail mail?” Lisa responded with a laugh, “Oh my gosh, jail mail! No, but she did tell [Murilo] that when she gets out of prison, she’d like to have a relationship with me and Meredith [Marks]. So, that was like our jail mail.”

When pressed on how she felt about the possibility of reconnecting with Jen, Lisa mentioned, “We did exchange one text on Mother’s Day where she said ‘Happy Mother’s Day’ and I said it back. But you know, Jen’s crazy, but she’s harmless at the end of the day unless you’re elderly.”

Scheana responded with a knowing, “Clearly,” as the conversation continued.

Lisa’s comments quickly sparked backlash on social media, catching the attention of Monica Garcia, who took to Instagram to voice her outrage.

“Someone is laughing and joking about defrauding the elderly. That’s something very real that happened. You can f*** all the way off,” Monica exclaimed. “It’s very relevant to me because it cost me my job. I reminded them of all the torture and trauma and harmful things that Jen put them through, and they weren’t gonna stand for it anymore.”

Monica continued her rant, addressing Lisa directly: “Then you go on a podcast and say she’s harmless unless you’re elderly, right? So when your whole stance is that I remind you of a very harmful person, and that’s why you don’t want to film with me, it’s contradictory. You’re trying to stay relevant with a friend who’s in prison, claiming she’s harmless. I mean, did she assault your friend or not? Was Jen the reason for the black eye, or was she not?”

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She added, “All I know is I had to sit there through three parts of a reunion listening to this, and that’s why I shouldn’t come back. But she’s harmless. She’s crazy, but she’s harmless. Are you really planning to be friends when she’s out of prison?”

The drama continues to unfold on The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, airing Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.