The story behind Heather Gay’s black eye on The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City was already confusing. Now, Lisa Barlow is making it even more convoluted by talking about metaphorical black eyes. Either way, all roads lead back to Jen Shah.
In an interview with People, the Queen of Sundance reflected on her chaotic Housewives journey and the road ahead to Season 5. Although Jen is long gone from the show, her presence has loomed over the cast—especially as they revisited the black eye situation in the Season 4 finale.
Jen denied having anything to do with the black eye. She posted a message from her prison cell proclaiming her innocence. Obviously, Lisa believes Heather’s side of the story, and she said that after years of Jen “terrorizing” her, she’s ready to move past the Shah era once and for all.
Black eyes for everyone!
During the interview, Lisa acknowledged that she was initially harsh with Heather over her weird lies about the black eye. However, as time went on, Lisa said she started to empathize with Heather trying to make it go away. Lisa said that at some point, they all “carried stuff” for Jen. She said the rest of the RHOSLC cast can bond over their shared, toxic experiences with Jen.
“She gave me a black eye proverbially,” Lisa continued. “Going on social media, putting out a list of things like, ‘Guess which one of my castmates said this’ — and they were all lies.”
Lisa explained, “It was stuff she made up. Bravo would have to spend the money to pull out a formal investigation and get lawyers and people involved, and then we would go through this whole dark process and then she’d be like, ‘I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.’”
Lisa said that going into Season 5, she and Heather are on good terms. It doesn’t sound like she thinks it’s important to hold Heather accountable for lying about the black eye all of this time. In Lisa’s eyes, it was justified because they were all terrified of Jen.
She added, “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.”
TELL US – DO YOU AGREE WITH LISA THAT THEY ALL GOT BLACK EYES FROM JEN? SHOULD HEALTHER BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR LYING ABOUT THE BLACK EYE FOR SO LONG?
