When The Real Housewives of Orange County debuted on television in 2006, there was no way for anyone to know that it would spawn arguably the biggest “reality” show franchise of all time. Thankfully for everyone involved in the production of the franchise, loads of people and even some celebrities enjoy the Real Housewives shows.
As a result of the fact that there have been twelve Real Housewives shows as of the time of this writing, the franchise has seen its fair share of colorful people come and go. Even among the wide array of interesting people who’ve starred in Real Housewives shows, Mary Cosby may just be the one who stands out the most. After all, she has been accused of something truly incredible, running a cult.
Who Is Mary Cosby?
In 2020, Real Housewives fans everywhere were excited to get the chance to watch the latest show in the franchise which stems from the Salt Lake City area. Thanks to the show, fans were introduced to several incredible people including Lisa Barlow, Heather Gay, Meredith Marks, Whitney Rose, Jen Shah, Jennie Nguyen, and Mary Cosby.
Arguably among the quirkiest Real Housewives stars of all time, Mary Cosby has her fair share of fans who love watching her on their televisions. As fascinating as Cosby’s personality is, her backstory may just be more incredible. The heir to a business empire, according to bravotv.com, Cosby had to marry her grandmother’s second husband to inherit her family fortune. Married to Robert Cosby Sr. for more than twenty years at this point, the couple has a son together.
Once Mary Cosby qualified to receive her inheritance, she became the owner of a church and some restaurants. Given the nature of the businesses she owned and ran, Cosby was particularly affected by the COVID-19 shutdowns as restaurants and churches were forced to close their doors. Of course, any successful business leader needs to be adaptable and Cosby seemingly proved she was that when she decided to launch a podcast during the lockdown. In a strange twist, however, Cosby proved yet again how quirky she can be since many of Mary’s fans are deeply confused that she never released her podcast for download.
What Religion Is Mary Cosby And Was She Running A Cult?
Before Mary Cosby’s grandmother passed away, she founded the Faith Temple Pentecostal Church which clearly indicates how important her faith was to Rosemary Cosby. Since she was born into a highly religious family, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that just like her grandmother Rosemary, Mary grew up to be very passionate about her Christian beliefs.
When Marcy Cosby was first introduced to Real Housewives fans, much of the conversation about her revolved around her unconventional marriage to her step-grandfather. While the two aren’t related genetically, the situation fascinated many and when discussing the beginning of her marriage, Cosby was honest about the situation. “Don’t think it wasn’t weird, ‘cause it was!” However, Cosby followed up that comment by expressing why she agreed to marry her step-grandfather and her happiness that she did. "But I did it because I trusted my grandmother, and I'm so glad I did it."
Even though Mary Cosby’s co-stars have had a lot to say about her over the years, when discussions about her became about allegations that she is running a cult. that was truly remarkable. As for how the cult rumors began, Cosby’s RHOSLC co-star Lisa Barlow was the first one to bring up the topic.
According to what Barlow claimed during the second season of RHOSLC, her friend Cameron Williams left Mary Cosby’s church due to suffering "extreme religious trauma". While that phrase may be hard to understand at first blush, Barlow elaborated by explaining that Willams mortgaged his home and gave Cosby’s church $300,000 at Mary’s instruction. While speaking for himself, Williams made his position on whether or not Cosby is a cult leader perfectly clear. “Is it a cult? Yes. Does she call herself ‘God’? Yes.”
After the allegations that Mary Cosby is a cult leader first came to light, The Daily Beast reached out to seven former members of her church. Amazingly enough, six of the seven former church members agreed that Cosby runs her church like it is a cult. According to one former member named Abby, the situation is “not a joke” since Cosby has her followers “terrified”. Another one of the former members that The Daily Beast spoke to claimed that Cosby’s church is really about enriching her. “It was all about money. They would shame you if you didn’t give enough. It was a form of mental manipulation."
Amazingly enough, even one of Mary Cosby’s uncles called her church “an abomination”. Worse yet, another former member of Mary Cosby’s church named Ralph Arnold Jr. made even more startling allegations against her. “She just screams at her members and mentally abuses them into submission.” “Mary is trying to convince people that she’s God, or like this special mediator. 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.”
While speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Mary Cosby denied any allegations of wrongdoing and claims that she is a cult leader. “Clearly I’m not gonna get on national television, be a ‘Housewife’ and be in a cult. My church members, they know those are false allegations.”
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