♪ this is "nightline." >> tonight, jen shah, the real housewife. >> i wanted to be shah-mazing, i wanted to be shah-bulous. >> reports to federal prison. >> it's going to be a very different life, and i don't know if jen is mentally prepared for that shift. >> her surprise message. >> my mistakes, you know -- created victims. >> inside the fraud scheme that duped the vulnerable and elderly. >> i invested more than half of the savings i had for retirement. >> what awaits her behind bars. plus, food and activism. celebrity chef marcus samuelsson on making cuisine for the culture.

>> what is the one thing you know in life for sure that you have no doubt? >> the black experience is incredible. >> his push to celebrate black excellence. and the late olivia newton-john. ♪ jolene jolene jolene jolene ♪ >> her final music video, duet with the country music classic dolly parton on "jolene." the c dolly parton on "jolene." bye, bye cough. later chest congestion. hello 12 hours of relief. 12 hours!! not coughing? hashtag still not coughing?! mucinex dm gives you 12 hours of relief from chest congestion and any type of cough, day or night. mucinex dm. it's comeback season. "the doctor will see you now."

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♪ good evening. thank you for joining us. we begin with jen shah, the over-the-top star of "the real housewives of salt lake city" now facing a harsh new reality, federal prison. she surrendered in texas to start serving a 6 1/2-year prison sentence for fraud. what she's now saying about her crimes and what her victims have to say to her. here's abc's erielle reshef. >> reporter: far from the flashing lights of reality tv cameras, "real housewives" star jen shah quietly reporting to prison under the harsh texas sun this afternoon. she was accompanied by her husband sharif and one of their sons, hugging them before starting her 6 1/2-year sentence at the federal prison camp in bryan, texas. >> jen shah's entire career is now going to be defined by her

prison sentence. >> reporter: just hours earlier, shah dropped her first on-camera interview since pleading guilty, striking a different tone than what "housewives" fans are used to, calmly addressing the vulnerable and elderly victims of her national telemarketing scheme who lost hundreds of thousands of dollars. >> my mistakes hurt people. my mistakes, you know, created victims out of, you know -- people were hurt from this. my role in this, as a result of that, you know, hurt a lot of people. >> reporter: shah also explaining how she felt immediately after her arrest and why she didn't take accountability sooner. >> my immediate response was, they must have the wrong person. like, they must have this all wrong. i didn't do anything. i was in complete denial at that time. and for a long time throughout

the process. >> reporter: shah is the latest in a long list of reality stars who have served or are currently serving time in minimum security facilities, like todd and julie chrisley and "the real housewives of new jersey" cast member teresa giudice. >> i think it's going to be a very different departure from the life jen shah is used to. not being able to choose what to wear, when to go to sleep, wake up -- you're not getting routine facials or fillers or hair dye, any of it. it's going to be a very different life, and i don't know if jen is mentally prepared for that shift. >> this is the same minimum security prison where elizabeth holmes of theranos infamy wants to serve her federal prison time. for a federal prison, it's not as bad as it could be. but it's federal prison. >> reporter: still, the facility details in its handbook a variety of leisurely activities available for inmates, including wellness programs, arts and

crafts, and business classes. >> and she said on a typical day she will wake up early, she will exercise, she's going to do a lot of reading and writing. she said that she's picked out a handful of books and that she's actually going to write book reports on them. >> reporter: for years, jen shah had it all. beautiful, rich, and successful. the 49-year-old married mother of two was cast for "the real housewives" when the franchise expanded to salt lake city. >> she's married to a football coach who makes a nice living, no doubt. but not the kind of living or lifestyle that she was presenting on the reality television show. >> i had to work my ass off here in utah. >> she just seemed to be this outrageous, over-the-top cartoon character. >> my [ bleep ], [ bleep ] because of that night! >> reporter: as viewers watched excessive wealth on display every episode, they had no idea federal investigators were

already on shah's trail, even before the show debuted. the feds had been arresting suspects connected to shah's telemarketing scheme. >> authorities say she and her coconspirators targeted and defrauded hundreds of victims. >> news starts breaking that jen shah gets arrested. literally my first thought, which was awful, "i wonder if bravo cameras are rolling?" jen shah's been arrested, are cameras roll onning? >> police. >> homeland security. >> we're looking for jen shah. >> she just left. >> reporter: shah faced two charges, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and money laundering with possible punishment up to 30 years in prison. the evidence, receipts, emails, and a mountain of text messages -- specifically the indictment says shah and her team had been targeting the elderly and vulnerable for years. >> my name is tricia. i'm 75 years old. i am retired and living here in north carolina.

>> reporter: tricia never thought she would talk about this publicly, being duped out of her life savings. no other victim of this scam has either. that's why she's wearing a mask and doesn't want to use her last name. >> i did feel shame. this is not easy for me, this interview. everything going on. because i'm telling the world, i was stupid enough to get caught in a scam. and i'm not a stupid person, but i did make a big mistake. do i want to tell the world that? no, i really don't. but i don't want other people to have to go through that shame that i went through. >> reporter: tricia says it all started simply enough, creating a web page for a small business online. what happened next? >> about three weeks later, i got a phone call saying, we noticed that you have a new website.

he did a sales speech about all the perks if i went with them, that they could teach me. >> reporter: over the course of several months, tricia would finish a program, then immediately get a phone call to start a new one. the sales pitches were good, but full of empty promises. how did this impact your financial life? >> i invested more than half of the savings i had for retirement. i gave them directly about $47,000. >> did you ever consider coming forward, calling authorities? >> i did. but i didn't know how to report it. to be honest with you. >> reporter: it's tricia's story and others like hers that would help bring down jen shah's network. the ftc also found 44-year-old molly mclaughlin from iowa. >> i probably spent about $44,000 on six credit cards.

all, of course, went into bankruptcy. because of course, i couldn't afford to pay that. >> reporter: and then there was ralph hallic, a world war ii veteran. after losing more than $100,000, he died by suicide at age 92. his family tells "nightline" they believe the scam contributed to his death. prosecutors say there could be thousands of victims like them. by mid-2022, jen shah was deep in trial prep and filming for season three of "real housewives." just days ahead of the july court date, bravo cameras were with her in new york. >> we have to go to priya's office to touch base, go over strategy, meet before the pretrial hearing. >> reporter: right as the trial is ready to begin, a bombshell announcement. >> the woman with the lavish lifestyle may have to leave it all behind for a life behind bars. >> reporter: after pleading guilty, we finally got to see the trove of evidence against

shah. and there was a lot. >> nothing about jen shah is subtle. it appeared she knew it was going on. she even tried in text messages, ordinary text messages, to keep others quiet. or instruct them as to what to say should investigators come calling. >> reporter: also in those messages, shah and her coconspirators talk about ways to keep customers hooked and spending more money. >> we know that prosecutors found a receipt for a spending spree. gucci, $27,000 on fifth avenue in new york. when you hear that, what's your reaction? >> she had knock-offs of the great designers. she was stealing from them, that's the same thing. she is what she is. >> reporter: it isn't until months after shah pled guilty that tricia found out a "real housewives" star was linked to her case. she was one of several victims

who sent impact statements to the judge ahead of shah's sentencing. as part of her statement to the court, jen shah said this. "i want to apologize to all the victims and families, and i take full responsibility for the harm i caused and will pay full restitution to all of the victims. i recognize that some of you lost hundreds and others lost thousands, and i promise to repay." tricia says she doesn't think she will ever see that money. at her sentencing hearing, jen shah said if she could, she would call every single victim and talk to them. would you take that call? >> yes. >> what would you say? >> i would listen. she deserves the respect to listen. but i would also be frank. and i'd hope she'd listen to me. >> reporter: tonight, a new instagram post from shah's account with a message to her fans. "in time i pray that people will judge me for the way i responded to this sentence rather than only for the decisions that led me to prison." >> it remains to be seen what happens when she gets out of prison.

will people still care? will they want to hear from her? it seems she's probably going tr she knows this story is gold, and she wants to sell that for herself. >> our thanks to erielle. you can see more on "impact by nightline." "the housewives scam: the real life of jen shah" now streaming on hulu. coming up, food and activism through a culinary lens. my conversation with top chefs marcus samuelsson and angie kingston. keeps flaring, put it in check with rinvoq, a once-daily pill. when uc got unpredictable, i got rapid symptom relief with rinvoq. and left bathroom urgency behind. check. when uc got in my way, i got lasting, steroid-free remission with rinvoq. check. and when my gastro saw damage, rinvoq helped visibly repair the colon lining.

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♪ ♪ food soothes the soul, nourishes and provides comfort. for two top chefs, marcus samuelsson and angie kingston, it feels they're activists in the celebration of black excellence. here's our conversation. we're going to talk about and where it intersects with culture and activism. i like this idea in thinking about -- when i think about food and ingredients and salt and pepper, what i hear you say that is one of the ingredients is intentionality. >> i remember the call i got around 2000 from maya angelou. she had summoned us. i was super nervous. you enter a space where there was so many incredible black icons. she says, we're going to create a change in harlem. all of you guys need to move your businesses or do something here. marcus, you can cook, you should open a restaurant. eight years later, that's red rooster.

>> it reminds me of the legendary stories about pascal's restaurant in atlanta. >> yes, yes. >> it was a gathering place for all the black leadership, safely gather and strategize and be intentional. how do you two know each other? >> when red rooster opened, the only department open was pastry. i applied to work pastry. one of the things i vividly remember that shocked me a little, was you were front and present, at the restaurant, on the line. i had never been in a space where the owner of the restaurant was front and present. i remember one day, i believe you made a staff meal. i remember thinking, wow. like, it's so amazing that you're so attached to this place that you would be here all the time. but one of the things that i always loved every time you would encounter, you always showed up at any space, didn't matter where we were, authentically. >> how did you get to the space i which you decided, i'm showing up as that guy every time? >> i couldn't do it alone. i come from a tribe.

my parents, my mentors, the chefs before me. so i -- anyone that says i'm self-made, i did this? i'm like, you're lonely, you got this wrong. i'm a representative of 100 people. >> part of what i hear you both -- it reminds me of a conversation with john lewis. i asked him the success of the civil rights movement, what potentially are some of the modern-day weapons people can use to be successful in justice, in civil rights? he says, byron, it's the same weapon as before, excellence. people will accept, eventually, who you are, what you're there for. and it led you to your activism? >> i'm the director of events, a nonprofit called black chef movement. black chef movement was born out of protests. when the pandemic happened and the george floyd protests erupted, a college friend of mine was like, how do we help? and so, you know, we know food. we turned to food. we started to prepare food for protesters. when i'm preparing a meal and i'm serving it in a community

where i've been told, thank you, without this i don't know how i would have eaten tonight -- that's a different kind of joy, but it is joy. >> who knew? i got in an uber to go to a beautiful new york city restaurant to talk to two chefs, and i met two activists. >> sure. i think food has always been a way to gather. first part here was, we're going to lead with joy. >> my waistline confirms, i've been in a lot of restaurants in my lifetime. but i've never seen that. >> when i was coming up in the kitchen world, i never saw people of color, never saw women. so that journey started with red rooster. i'm going to open an open kitchen, so people see who does the work. it's going to be a place that black excellence can thrive. and when we open helmar, how do we turn that one step further? focusing on women of color in leadership positions, the best decision i've ever done. the only thing i'm upset about, i should have done it earlier.

>> last question to you both, what is the one thing in life you know for sure, for which you have no doubt? >> mine would be, i am resilient. i feel as though it doesn't necessarily matter what happens, what i go through, what ups or downs the industry is in. i'm going to figure out a way to adjust and come back. >> what is the one thing in life you know for sure for which you have no doubt? >> that the black experience is incredible. >> and the church said -- >> amen. >> amen. up next, the late olivia newton-john. her moving final gift to fans. duetting with a country music legend. ♪ jolene jolene jolene jolene please don't take him just because you can ♪

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♪ finally tonight, olivia newton-john's final recording and music video, a duet with music legend dolly parton. >> i am so excited to be working with olivia newton-john, one of my favorites of all-time. ♪ jolene jolene jolene jolene ♪ ♪ please don't take him just because you can ♪ >> it's the first duet by the music legend. newton-john recorded the song and the music video before her death from cancer last august.

it's featured on her upcoming record "just the two of us: the duets collection" including collaborations with mariah carey and barry gibb, among others. the album comes out in may. ♪ jolene jolene ♪ >> and that's "nightline" for this evening. catch our full episodes on hulu. we'll see you right back here same time on monday. thanks for the company, america. have a good and safe weekend.

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