Ex-Church Members Claim That Mary Cosby Of “Real Housewives Of Salt Lake City” Is Running A Cult
Today in LOL DUHHH BITCH, Real Housewives of Salt Lake City cast member Mary Cosby is running a cult. We knew this. I mean, step-grandpa-marrying Mary is constantly denying that her Faith Temple Pentecostal Church is a cult, but there’s just so much proof that it is. And yesterday The Daily Beast published an exposé in which many of her ex-followers confirmed that, YES, it’s a cult, Mary thinks she’s God on Earth, and she’s draining her congregant’s bank accounts so she can live like a queen. I, for one, am SHOCKED the Bravo network would hire someone so shady! That has never ever ever happened before in the history of Real Housewives!
First, some backstory. Mary’s grandmother was Rosemary “Mama” Redmon Cosby. Here is an artist’s depiction:
After Rosemary died at age 65 in 1997, Mary married her step-grandfather, Bishop Robert Cosby. Mary was 24, Robert was in his mid-forties. On the show, it’s heavily implied that this was Mary’s way of inheriting the church. Mary and her grandhusband have one child, but have slept in separate bedrooms for many years. Now onto the cult allegations!
According to The Daily Beast, former congregants claim Mary refers to herself as God, manipulates and bullies members of the church to work for her family’s businesses for free or minimum wage, and frequently tells her followers that if they leave the church or don’t give their income to her, they’ll be condemned to hell. An anonymous former member says:
“Mary is trying to convince people that she’s God, or like this special mediator,” the anonymous male 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.”
On the show, Mary has five or six homes that she can barely keep track of, hoards designer clothes, and loves to flaunt her wealth. According to former congregants who spoke to The Daily Beast, a lot of that wealth comes from church members. via Page Six:
A former male member who requested anonymity added, “It was all about money. [There would be] grueling hours and hours of people badgered” for donations.
“They would sit and demand money until they got a certain dollar figure, whatever [sum] was in their head before they let people go” he claimed. “Now, that didn’t mean they had guns to your head, but they would shame you if you left. They would shame you if you didn’t give enough. So, it was a form of mental manipulation.”
Another former female member said her family couldn’t celebrate Christmas cuz all the money her parents would have used to buy gifts went to the church:
“My grandpa got injured in the war and got a settlement of money and they took it from him, all of it,” she said. “A lot of the members there are on food stamps, and they struggle to pay their own bills. They [would] make them give them everything.”
The Daily Beast spoke to Mary’s uncle, Ernest Walton, and he confirms that, yep, the Faith Temple Pentecostal Church is 1000% a cult. He adds:
“Everything’s coming out into the light now and everything’s coming down.”
Former member Ralph Arnold Jr. says that Mary preaches she is God on Earth and:
“The church has gone to ruin and most everyone has left because Mary has no anointing whatsoever when she preaches,” Arnold said. “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.”
The second season of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City premiered this past Sunday, and the season trailer shows cast member Lisa Barlow (who is, ironically, a Mormon) meeting with a Salt Lake City community leader who tells her, “Is it a cult? Yes. Does she call herself ‘God’? Yes.” Here’s the trailer, but be warned that most of the drama stems from Jen Shah’s arrest and fraud charges (she scammed the elderly):
Listen… are people like Mary and Jen terrible, morally corrupt narcissists who have destroyed countless lives? Yes. Will this stop me from watching the show? Um… that’s truly none of your business.
Pic: YouTube