Misdemeanor charges filed against former “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” cast member Mary Cosby in 2021 were dismissed this month.
According to the initial charging documents, Cosby was accused of harboring a minor, who at the time was dating Cosby’s son. The teen stayed overnight at the reality TV star’s home in April 2021 “without the permission of the parent or guardian,” the documents state.
About a month later, Cosby faced now-dropped misdemeanor counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, as well as unlawfully providing shelter to a runaway.
Cosby’s lawyers, who did not reply to a request for comment, argued that it was a misunderstanding. The charges were dismissed Sept. 7 without prejudice, meaning that they could be refiled.
The same charges were filed in 2021 against Cosby’s son, Robert Jr., who was 18 at the time, and were dismissed in February.
Cosby quickly became a controversial figure on “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” in part because she is married to her step-grandfather — her grandmother’s second husband. And she became more polarizing still because of multiple instances of racism on the show. She insulted Mexican and Asian people, Latter-day Saints and fellow Black people.
There also were allegations in the show and from former congregants that Cosby and her church, the Faith Temple Pentecostal Church in Salt Lake City, have exploited members and convinced them to contribute large sums of money.
Cosby was fired from the show after she failed to show up for the taping of the Season 2 reunion episodes of “RHOSLC,” which she was contractually obligated to do. Cosby does not appear in the first episode of Season 3, which airs Sept. 28 on Bravo, and there is no mention of her.
A second member of the “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” cast, Jen Shah, pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges in July. Shah, who will be in Season 3 of the show, faces up to 30 years in prison. She is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 28.
Follow @ScottDPierce