{"id":214994,"date":"2026-01-06T10:30:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T10:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/06\/hbo-max-is-now-streaming-a-shocking-true-crime-show-about-a-popular-reality-tv-star\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T10:30:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T10:30:16","slug":"hbo-max-is-now-streaming-a-shocking-true-crime-show-about-a-popular-reality-tv-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/06\/hbo-max-is-now-streaming-a-shocking-true-crime-show-about-a-popular-reality-tv-star\/","title":{"rendered":"HBO Max Is Now Streaming a Shocking True Crime Show About a Popular Reality TV Star"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>If you\u2019re a\u00a0<em>Real Housewives<\/em> fan, then you know who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/celebrities\/mary-cosby\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Mary Cosby<\/strong><\/a> is. And if you don\u2019t, you\u2019re in for a wild ride.<\/p>\n<p>Cosby is one of the stars of Bravo\u2019s\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/shows\/the-real-housewives-of-slc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City<\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>and while she didn\u2019t get thrown in prison like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/celebrities\/jen-shah\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Jen Shah,<\/strong> <\/a>she\u2019s remained a controversial cast member.<\/p>\n<p>This is due to persistent allegations that the church she runs, Faith Temple, is a cult.<\/p>\n<p>While the rumors have died down in newer seasons of\u00a0<em>RHOSLC,\u00a0<\/em>a bombshell documentary on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/media-network\/hbo-max\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HBO Max<\/a> is thrusting them back into the spotlight.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/watch-with-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Watch With Us<\/a> breaks down why\u00a0<em>The Cult of the Real Housewife<\/em> is a must-watch this January.<\/p>\n<div class=\"link-related article link-related__with-thumb\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"article__thumbnail related-ab-test\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/entertainment\/news\/rhoslcs-mary-cosby-subject-of-new-tlc-doc-over-church-cult-allegations\/\" target=\"\" data-source=\"01\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/p>\n<figure class=\"article__figure\">\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:56.25%;\" class=\"ratio-based-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"article__content\">\n<h3 class=\"article__title\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"article__title-link related-ab-test\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/entertainment\/news\/rhoslcs-mary-cosby-subject-of-new-tlc-doc-over-church-cult-allegations\/\" target=\"\" data-source=\"01\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\n    <span class=\"related-badge\">Related: <\/span><span class=\"related-title\">Mary Cosby Reacts to \u2018Horrible\u2019 TLC Docuseries Investigating Her Church<\/span><\/a><br \/>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\n\t\t\tUPDATE \u2014 11\/15\/25, 2:38 p.m. ET The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City\u2019s Mary Cosby is speaking out after TLC announced a three-part docuseries that will investigate her church. \u201cI think it\u2019s sad and a shame. It\u2019s horrible,\u201d Mary said during a panel at BravoCon 2025 on Friday, November 14. \u201cThat\u2019s what I think.\u201d In [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2>You Don\u2019t Have to Know \u2018Real Housewives\u2019 to Enjoy It<\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Bravo&#039;s &quot;The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City&quot; Season 1 Full Trailer\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Dr6aSTPzTt0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>If you think that you need to binge all of <em>The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City\u00a0<\/em>first to watch <em>The Cult of the Real Housewife,\u00a0<\/em>have no fear. Mary Cosby is such a fascinating character, separate from her stint on the popular Bravo series, that you can dive headfirst into this docuseries without being a <em>Real Housewives\u00a0<\/em>head whatsoever. <em>The Cult of the Real Housewife<\/em> is simply a compelling true crime documentary about Mary, her church and the allegations against it that range from spying on church members to abusing congregants, to affairs and expecting members to work for free.<\/p>\n<p>Still, those allegations don\u2019t even cover everything that makes Mary such a polarizing figure \u2014 like the fact that she claims she \u201chad\u201d to marry her grandmother\u2019s husband (we\u2019ll get into that). Thus, if you\u2019re looking for your next true crime binge, the three-part <em>The Cult of the Real Housewife<\/em> is definitely it. Plus, it may have the unintended effect of turning\u00a0<em>Real Housewives<\/em> skeptics into new fans. Between a prison stint, an alleged cult, MLM schemes and, of course, \u201cRealityVonTease,\u201d <em>RHOSLC<\/em> is handily one of the more wild installments of the long-running <em>Real Housewives<\/em> franchise.<\/p>\n<h2>The Allegations Against Mary and Her Church Are Shocking<\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Trailer | The Cult of the Real Housewife | TLC\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/aN4ZerkV3nU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s hard to get into the full extent of the allegations against Faith Temple and Mary Cosby, but we\u2019ll do our best to provide a brief summary. Ex-congregants of the church (who are interviewed for this documentary) claim they suffered religious abuse at the hands of Mary and her husband, <strong>Robert Sr.<\/strong>, and that Mary positions herself as a God-like figure to be worshipped \u2014 or else. Ultimately, the documentary reveals a woman who is deeply manipulative and greedy, and who wields her status in the church over people like a cudgel.<\/p>\n<p>Though cameras were also in use at the church before Mary\u2019s takeover, Mary had a different use for them. Filmed confessions were allegedly used for public humiliation rituals, while there are claims that Mary had cameras elsewhere to spy on members while they were out of town. Other ex-congregants claim Mary exploited them for free labor, all while pressuring members to donate vast sums of money to the church. Then, there are the allegations that Robert Sr. abused male congregants with extreme military-style exercises, in addition to emotionally abusing female congregants and pursuing affairs with them.<\/p>\n<h2>\u2018The Cult of the Real Housewife\u2019 Addresses the Elephant in the Room<\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"IS Mary Cosby\u2019s Church A CULT?  Producer\u2019s Of The Real Cult Of The Real Housewife Tell All!\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/HN5Hay2PLX4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s arguable that even more than the weirdness with her church, Mary\u2019s marriage to Robert Sr. was actually the most contested aspect of her presence in <em>The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City<\/em> when the show first started back in 2020. Basically, Robert Sr. is Mary\u2019s step-grandfather. He\u2019s not related to her by blood, but he was married to her grandmother, Rosemary. Mary has claimed on the show that it was her grandmother\u2019s dying wish to have Mary marry her husband and take over the church.<\/p>\n<div id=\"news-block\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-form  \">\n<div class=\"newsletter-signup__success\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<h3>Thank You!<\/h3>\n<p>You have successfully subscribed.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>But\u00a0<em>The Cult of the Real Housewife<\/em> paints a bit of a different story, one in which Mary was, at one point, \u201cdisfellowshipped\u201d from the church due to behavior when she was younger, and grew closer to Robert Sr. after <em>he<\/em> took over the church. Plus, Mary\u2019s mother, Rosalind, once staged a walkout at the church in protest of Mary and Robert Sr.\u2019s marriage. Mary\u2019s estranged sister, <a href=\"https:\/\/realityblurb.com\/2026\/01\/01\/mary-cosbys-sister-accuses-her-of-strange-behavior-with-robert-cosby-sr-after-grandmother-rosemarys-death-says-rhoslc-star-was-disfellowshipped\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Denise Jefferson Odinaka<\/strong><\/a>, is interviewed for this documentary and even claims Robert Sr. was a father figure to the two of them when they were younger \u2014 making the whole situation a lot creepier.<\/p>\n<p>Apparently, Robert Sr. claimed God \u201ccompelled him\u201d to marry Mary sometime after he had taken Mary under his wing at Faith Temple. Though Mary claimed on <em>RHOSLC<\/em> that she never actually wanted to marry Robert Sr., she curiously divorced her first husband, Dana Harris, and married Robert Sr. only a few weeks later.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/play.hbomax.com\/show\/dc736479-b886-42e4-93ce-67c7122e3ce1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Stream\u00a0<em>The Cult of the Real Housewife<\/em> now on HBO Max.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/entertainment\/news\/hbo-max-is-now-streaming-a-shocking-true-crime-show-about-a-popular-reality-tv-star\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019re a\u00a0Real Housewives fan, then you know who Mary Cosby is. And if you don\u2019t, you\u2019re in for a wild ride. Cosby is one of the stars of Bravo\u2019s\u00a0The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City,\u00a0and while she didn\u2019t get thrown in prison like Jen Shah, she\u2019s remained a controversial cast member. This is due [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":214998,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-214994","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214994\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}