'RHOSLC’ Star Mary Cosby Says She Isn’t Running A Cult
Season 2 of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City brought all the drama this fall. In between ski trips and over-the-top parties, the housewives were shocked when co-star Jen Shah was arrested and charged with money laundering and fraud.
Then, just one episode later, the ladies were reeling after rumors started circulating that housewife Mary Cosby is a cult leader. It's true that Mary runs a church. But is it a cult? Some housewives (and viewers) just weren't convinced.
A cult is defined as a small religious group that isn't part of mainstream religion. Cults can be dangerous because some use mind control techniques (like behavior modification or thought-stopping techniques), which can cause members lasting psychological damage, per the American Psychological Association.
Technically, "anyone can create a new religion, and can appeal to the government for new religion status and get protections and recognition from the government," Ori Tavor, a senior lecturer in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations told the University of Pennsylvania. But if a cult engages in illegal activities, members (including the founder) may face legal consequences.
Mary insists that the cult accusations are false. “There’s no cult," she told Entertainment Tonight. And to date, no legal action has been taken against Mary for her role in the church. So, what is the truth—if any—behind the rumors? Here's everything there is to know:
How does Mary's church work, anyway?
Mary inherited the Faith Temple Pentecostal Church from her grandmother, Rosemary (who founded the church), after she passed away. But in order to follow in her grandmother's footsteps, Mary had to marry Rosemary's husband—a.k.a. her step-grandfather, Robert Cosby Sr.
"Don't think it wasn't weird, 'cause it was!" Mary said. "But I did it because I trusted my grandmother, and I'm so glad I did it." Now, Mary's husband, Robert, is a pastor in the church, and Mary is considered the Pentecostal First Lady.
Mary is very dedicated to her role in the church, as viewers have seen on the show. Other housewives have even attended her services: Housewife Whitney Rose brought her father to Mary's church in season 1.
Where did the accusations come from?
The first housewife to suggest that Mary might be a cult leader was Lisa Barlow. After being pressed, Lisa revealed that one of her friends, Cameron Williams, had left Mary's church after suffering "extreme religious trauma."
Lisa claimed that Cameron told her he had given the Cosbys around $300,000 and had even mortgaged his house because Mary told him to. “Is it a cult? Yes. Does she call herself ‘God’? Yes,” Cameron said in one of the RHOSLC trailers.
Cameron also sat down with housewife Meredith Marks in a later episode to discuss what he claims to have experienced at Mary's church. "Be careful," he said. "Thankfully," Cameron explained he is now "out of that situation" because he "had to walk away" after watching the Cosbys do "very harmful things" to church members.
When Meredith wanted more details, all Cameron said was, “that’s Mary’s story to tell.” Sadly, Cameron passed away in June, but Lisa Barlow continues to support his side of the story.
“I believe him. I believe his feelings,” she told Page Six in October. “I believe he was an amazing person. I believe he had an amazing heart. It’s important for people to hear his side and what he went through because it might be healing and helpful for people to hear what Cameron said to me.”
Has anyone else come forward?
Cameron isn't the only ex-member to share his story. Six of the seven former members who were contacted by the Daily Beast also claimed that Mary has been operating her church like a "cult." Abby, who left Faith Temple in the 1990s, said “it’s not a joke.” “She’s got these people terrified," Abby continued. "You have no idea, all those smiles and s–t—that is not real.”
Another former member, Ralph Arnold Jr., accused Mary of preaching that “she is God on Earth.” “The church has gone to ruin,” Arnold told the outlet. “She just screams at her members and mentally abuses them into submission. [She] brainwashes them on the regular, not to mention the utterly flamboyant and hypocritical life she lives.”
Ralph also remembered Mary positioning herself above the congregation. “Mary is trying to convince people that she’s God, or like this special mediator,” he said. “That she has power that she can talk to God and she can decide where you’re going [heaven or hell]. Mary tries to equate herself to like a female Jesus.”
Other anonymous members recalled a constant push for donations. “It was all about money," one person said. “They would shame you if you didn’t give enough. It was a form of mental manipulation."
Another woman explained that the church wasn't what she expected. “We thought we were learning a new way of life, a new way to praise God, but that was never the case… There is so much shady stuff going on in that church," she said.
Even Mary's uncle, Ernest Walton, calls the church "an abomination." “Everything's coming out into the light now and everything’s coming down," he adds.
But so far, no one has pressed charges against Mary, Robert Sr., or the church, and law enforcement has apparently never gotten involved in Faith Temple's activities.
Has Mary responded to these claims?
Yes—and she insists the accusations are all false. “Clearly I’m not gonna get on national television, be a ‘Housewife’ and be in a cult,” she told Entertainment Tonight. “My church members, they know those are false allegations.”
At the RHOSLC season 1 reunion, host Andy Cohen played an audio recording of one of Mary's sermons. In the clip, Mary called her congregation "stingy" and "poor" after she didn't receive enough birthday cards.
Mary maintained that she would never take money from the church for herself. “I’m a God-fearing woman," she said. "I would never do that.”
“[A]ll religious institutions, including the Faith Temple Pentecostal, accept donations from their parishioners," one of Mary's attorneys told The Daily Beast. "However they don’t force parishioners into poverty to make such contributions.” He also added that the idea of Mary calling herself "God" is “extremely offensive and has no basis in reality.”
What do the other RHOSLC ladies think?
Meredith Marks has attended one of Mary's services. "I was at Mary's church and I saw nothing other than people who were very high-energy, really enjoying expressing their faith and that they really do love Mary," she told E! News.
"I did not see anything that would ever lead me to believe that it was anything but a church," she continued. "That's my personal experience and I have no reason to believe anything beyond that."
Stay tuned for more RHOSLC bombshells every Sunday night at 9 p.m. on Bravo.
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