January 3, 2026
by Carla Hay
“The Cult of the Real Housewife”
Directed by Elli Hakami and Julian P. Hobbs
Culture Representation: The three-episode docuseries “The Cult of the Real Housewife” features a predominantly African American group of people (with a few white people) talking about the scandals of Mary Cosby, an on-again/off-again cast member of the reality show “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City,” which is televised in the U.S. on Bravo.
Culture Clash: Cosby and her second husband (who is also her step-grandfather) are the leaders of Faith Temple, a Pentecostal Christian church in Salt Lake City, and have been accused by former Faith Temple members of financial fraud, religious abuse and employee exploitation.
Culture Audience: “The Cult of the Real Housewife” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of “The Real Housewives” franchise and are interested in watching tabloid-styled documentaries about scandal-plagued reality TV stars.
“The Cult of the Real Housewife” is more about rehashing old tabloid controversies than being an investigative documentary. It refuses to hold TV executives accountable for keeping Mary Cosby employed if she’s such a horrible person. Allegations of unpaid employees and sexual harassment get no legal details for context. The documentary should have given information on what is legal and not legal for a church leader to do in the name of religion or service to the church.
Directed by Elli Hakami and Julian P. Hobbs, “The Cult of the Real Housewife” has the tone of pointing fingers at some of the trashy hypocrites who are chosen to star in reality TV shows. And yet, this lazy and repetitive documentary is presented exactly like a trashy reality TV show, including overly melodramatic music and showing the same footage of people making the same comments in different episodes, as if viewers are too stupid to remember what was already said.
Episode 1, titled “It’s a Cult,” gives an overview of why many people think Mary Cosby and her second husband Robert Cosby have turned Faith Temple into a cult. Episode 2, titled “That’s When the Trouble Started,” has background information on Faith Temple’s origins and the controversy over the marriage of Mary Cosby and Robert Cosby and includes allegations that Robert physically abused boys enrolled in a Faith Temple disciplinary program in the 1970s. Episode 3, titled “A Message of Fear and Control” goes into details about allegations of Mary and Robert treating their employees like slaves and using Faith Temple surveillance footage against Faith Temple members.
The documentary has an interview with only one legitimate journalist: Cheyenne Roundtree, whose original investigation of Mary Cosby was published back in 2021 for a Daily Beast article. That years-old investigative report is used as the basis for most of this documentary, which re-uses the same information but has people interviewed on camera about it. People who are unfamiliar with this story might be fascinated if they don’t know all of it was reported years ago by journalists who aren’t this documentary’s producers.
Mary Cosby (no relation to Bill Cosby) was born on October 17, 1972. She and her second husband Robert C. Cosby (also known as Bob Cosby), who have been married since 1998, are the leaders of Faith Temple, a Pentecostal Christian church in Salt Lake City. One of the first things you’ll hear about this unusual marriage is that Robert, who is about 20 years older than Mary, is Mary’s step-grandfather.
Robert used to be married to Mary’s maternal grandmother Dr. Rosemary Redmond Cosby, who founded Faith Temple. Robert (about 20 years younger than Rosemary) was Rosemary’s second husband and is not a biological relative of Mary, although Mary was raised to call him Gramps, and she treated him like a grandfather when she was growing up. Rosemary, who had the nickname Mama to her church members, died in 1997 of heart disease, according to an official medical examiner report.
Robert and Mary, who declined to be interviewed for this documentary, have said in many past interviews that Rosemary put in her last will and testament that she wanted Robert to marry one of her granddaughters, although there is no proof that this request was ever in Rosemary’s will. The marriage was so controversial, Mary’s mother Rosalind Cazarez (who raised Mary and her older sister as a single parent) led a walkout during a Faith Temple church service on April 26, 1998. About half of the congregation quit the church that day, which is known in Faith Temple history as the day of the Walkout Service. The walkout caused so much turmoil, police had to be called to the church and escort people out when it looked like things might get violent. Cazarez died in 2025, but she publicly said that she believes Robert took advantage of Mary.
People interviewed in this documentary tell a different story and say that Mary and Robert are both in control of the harm that this couple allegedly causes through the church. After Robert and Mary took over Faith Temple, the spouses became greedy and controlling to their members, according to the former Faith Temple members (including Mary’s older sister Denise Jefferson Odinaka), who are interviewed in the documentary. Rosemary was beloved for showing compassion to the church members. She did not demand that church members spend a huge percentage of their finances on church donations.
In stark contrast, Robert and Mary developed a reputation for demanding that church members drain their bank accounts for donations to Faith Temple, publicly shaming church members during Faith Temple services, and using surveillance equipment in the church building for this type of public shaming. Reports surfaced that Faith Temple had turned into a toxic cult under the leadership of Robert and Mary, who are not ordained clergy in any religion. The documentary includes the notorious audio clip of Mary berating all church members during a service for not giving her enough gifts and money. She insults them for being “poor and stingy.” Mary and Robert also demanded that certain church members work for free as housekeepers and other assistants in the couple’s household.
These allegations had already been swirling by the time Mary Cosby found reality TV fame when she was chosen to be part of Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City,” which debuted in 2020. “The Real Housewives” franchise (a “Desperate Housewives”-inspired reality show about affluent women in major metropolitan areas) has gotten a lot of criticism for not properly vetting the stars of the show. Several “Real Housewives” cast members have gone on to be convicted of crimes (mostly financial-related crimes) that they committed while they were “Real Housewives” cast members.
Mary Cosby was a full-time cast member of “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” during the show’s first season and second season. She became known as the villain whom viewers loved to hate because of her rudeness and bullying of other cast members. Mary also became known for showing off her mansions and hoarder-level collection of luxury items.
Where was she getting all of the money to pay for this lifestyle, when her only job was being a pastor for a church consisting of mostly working-class people? It was a question she repeatedly dodged in interviews. Other cast members of “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” openly expressed concerns on the show about Mary being a con artist who was leading a cult. Mary denied it all.
Mary skipped the televised “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” Season 2 reunion in 2021, after Roundtree’s Daily Beast investigation reported how former Faith Temple members felt they had been manipulated and pressured to hand over large sums of money to Mary and Robert. Mary was absent from the third season of “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City,” made guest appearances for the show’s fourth season, and returned as a full-time cast member in the show’s fifth season. Robert Cosby no longer appears on the show.
The message was clear: The TV executives in charge of hiring and firing “Real Housewives’ cast members didn’t care if Mary was a cult leader with multiple allegations of financial abuse and employee exploitation. These TV executives just wanted Mary back on the show because her “villain” reputation might help boost ratings, but they deliberately erased any mention of the allegations against Mary when Mary returned to the show. Instead, “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” gave Mary a story arc of being “reformed” and gave her sympathetic coverage by showing Mary trying to help her son Robert Crosby Jr., who has had very public problems with drug addiction and arrests for assault, destruction of property and other crimes.
Curiously, “The Cult of the Real Housewife” completely leaves out any mention of Mary’s son Robert Crosby Jr., and how his problems have become part of her “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” story arc. But the details about her other scandals are told in a haphazard, non-chronological way in “The Cult of the Real Housewife,” which is littered with a lot of videoclips and screenshots of random strangers commenting on social media about Mary Cosby and her scandals. Any documentary that relies this much on this type of questionable social media footage has no interest in being an investigative documentary. The documentary also has interviews with social media personalities Adam Newell (host of “Up and Adam”) and Sharrell Llloyd, host of “Sharrell’s World,” both of whom do extensive coverage of “The Real Housewives” franchise.
The only “expert” interviewed in “The Cult of the Real Housewife” is Dr. Steven Hassan, a self-described cult expert, who is one of the few people interviewed in the documentary who doesn’t have a personal grudge against Mary and/or Robert. Hassan’s comments are edited in the documentary to give definitions and examples of what a cult is and what toxic cult leaders do. According to this documentary, Faith Temple (under the leadership of Mary and Robert) fits the definition of a cult.
In addition to Mary’s older sister, other former Faith Temple members interviewed in the documentary are siblings Michael Enoch, Ernest Enoch and Rosalind Enoch, whose deceased father Sam Enoch used to be a Faith Temple choir director; Mary’s cousin Dan Cosby; Dan Cosby’s wife Kim Cosby; Sam Kelly, the adopted son of Robert Cosby and Rosemary Cosby; Dorothy Shannon, who describes herself as Rosemary’s best friend and a Faith Temple member for 76 years; Martin Robinson; and Susie Tunson.
They all describe Mary as charismatic but a master manipulator, extremely greedy, and someone who misleads her congregants to believe that she is God or the closest thing to God. The documentary includes audio clips of some of Mary’s sermons where she seems to have a messiah complex. Rosalind Enoch says she was one of many Faith Temple members who gave in to the huge financial demands that Mary and Robert placed on Faith Temple members to donate money to the church: “There were people cashing out 401Ks, losing homes,” says Rosalind. “It got to be a financial embarrassment for some people.”
Mary’s sister Jefferson Odinaka says Mary as a child was very needy, always demanded attention, and liked to bully other kids. Mary became a rebellious teenager who had a pattern of getting involved with older men who could provide her with material possessions. At one point, because of her troublemaking ways, Mary was “disfellowshipped”: banned from participating in Faith Temple activities, but she was still allowed to attend church services.
Jefferson Odinaka comments on Mary: “She’s a big hypocrite. And the world is eating it up. She’s a big fraud, as far as I’m concerned.” Michael Enoch (who briefly dated Mary when they were adolescents) says about Mary, “If you want to understand her character, it’s right there in front of your face. It’s on national television.”
In the documentary, the Enoch siblings bitterly complain that Mary made insensitive comments on “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” about the death of Michael’s 21-year-old daughter Maikel Enoch, who died in a car accident in Salt Lake City in 2021. Michael claims that Robert and Mary ordered Faith Temple members not to donate to the Enoch family’s GoFundMe account that was created to help pay for the funeral. Michael says he believes Robert and Mary tried to sabotage this fundraising in retaliation for Michael and other Enoch family members quitting Faith Temple.
Dan Cosby and Kelly give emotional interviews where they share painful childhood memories of how Robert Cosby used to physically abuse them and other boys from Faith Temple in a 1970s church program that was described as “disciplinary training” for the boys of the congregation. Kelly, who describes Robert as having a “Jekyll and Hyde” personality, says his brother Demetrius (who was also adopted by Robert and Rosemary) reported this abuse to Rosemary, who put a stop to the program but did not make Robert have any consequences. It’s mentioned that Rosemary didn’t believe in divorce. The statute of limitations has passed for anything to legally be done about this alleged abuse.
“The Cult of the Real Housewife” also mentions things from Mary’s past that are shady but not illegal. For example, Mary claims to have gotten romantically involved with Robert after she was divorced from her first husband Dana Harris. However, investigative journalist Roundtree found legal documents proving that Mary and Robert got married on September 27, 1998—only 19 days after her divorce from Mary’s first husband was made final.
During her marriage to Robert, Mary allegedly had a sexual affair with a man named Cameron Williams, who was a Faith Temple member at the time. Williams and Mary were such constant companions, he was briefly seen on “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.” Williams, who was an educated member of the Utah County Black Chamber of Commerce, abruptly quit Faith Temple and was never seen on “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” again. Williams died in 2021, at the age of 33, from medical complications that he had after brain surgery.
Mary’s cousin Dan Cosby says in the documentary that Williams had told him if anything happened to Williams, to tell people that Williams and Mary had an extramarital affair that began when she came over to Williams’ place and seduced him. Ernest Enoch also says that he knew about this affair. According to Dan Cosby, Williams was the one who recommended Mary to be on “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” because he wanted Mary’s true nature to be exposed to more people.
Having extramarital affairs certainly reflects badly on a supposedly pious Christian pastor, but it’s not illegal. Violating labor laws is illegal. And former Faith Temple member Susie Tunson says that her sister Pat Tunson (who worked as an unpaid housekeeper/personal assistant to Robert and Mary) was a treated like a slave by Mary and Robert until the day that Pat died at the age of 81. Susie says Mary and Robert forbade Susie (who had quit Faith Temple) from attending Pat’s funeral because Susie had spoken out about the couple exploiting Pat. Susie also alleges that brainwashed Faith Temple members continue to work in the couple’s household for free.
Dan Cosby’s wife Kim Cosby says she and other women (whom she does not name) are former Faith Temple members who were sexually harassed by Robert, under the guise of him counseling them. Kim says during these “counseling sessions,” Robert repeatedly tried to pressure her into telling him that she was in love with him. Kim also claims that Robert touched her in inappropriate places.
Kim says she refused all of these sexual advances, and she says she was expelled from Faith Temple for speaking out about this problem. Kim says she believes Robert no longer appears on “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” to avoid further exposure. Toward the end of the documentary, someone who calls himself Bishop Galvin of the Soul Restoration church says that many of the church’s members are former Faith Temple members. That’s all well and good, but this documentary didn’t need to be a shameless publicity platform for another church.
“The Cult of the Real Housewife” fails to have any legal experts in the documentary, to talk about what types of rights these alleged victims have and what legal action these alleged victims can take. There’s a lot of blaming and badmouthing in the documentary, but nothing in the documentary is discussed to solve any of these problems. And this is why “The Cult of the Real Housewife,” which pretends to care about the alleged victims, is really just exploiting them.
It’s one thing for churches to have volunteers who do volunteer work on church duties. It’s another thing for a church leader to have unpaid employees work in the church leader’s home, which is illegal in Utah and other U.S. states. The alleged sexual harassment is harder to prove, but Kim Cosby makes it clear in the documentary that she knows of several other women who are sexual harassment survivors of Robert Cosby. The notorious downfall of Harvey Weinstein proves what can happen when enough survivors have the courage to come forward and, in some cases, take legal action.
In its obvious glee to repeat sensationalistic gossip and allegations that were reported several years ago, “The Cult of the Real Housewife” does absolutely nothing that is helpful or informative in a meaningful way. Toward the end of the documentary, it’s mentioned that Faith Temple is “on hiatus” because of renovations for a church building. And that means “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” is a main source of income for Mary Cobsy. “The Cult of the Real Housewife” is irresponsible and cowardly for not holding any of the “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” executives responsible for continuing to fund the “Real Housewives” fame of someone who should be investigated for financial fraud and violations of labor laws.
TLC premiered “The Cult of the Real Housewife” on January 1, 2026.