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Actuality star Mary Cosby’s TV fame now collides with severe allegations in a brand new TLC docuseries that examines claims of cult-like conduct contained in the church she leads along with her husband.
The three-part collection, “The Cult of the Real Housewife,” investigates Religion Temple Pentecostal Church, exploring claims of non secular manipulation, monetary strain and emotional management that former members say unfolded behind closed doorways.
The docuseries traces Religion Temple’s roots to its founding by Rosemary “Mama” Cosby, Mary’s grandmother, who was broadly revered inside the congregation.
A former church member took out a $300,000 second mortgage on his residence and gave the cash to Mary Cosby, highlighting the alleged monetary entanglements concerned. (Koury Angelo/Bravo by way of Getty Photographs)
Following the demise of “Mama” Cosby, management of the church handed to her husband, Robert Cosby Sr. — Mary’s step-grandfather — whose later marriage to Mary sparked controversy and marked what critics described as a dramatic shift within the church’s tradition.
Fox Information Digital has reached out to Mary Cosby for remark.
Mary’s cousin Dan Cosby advised Fox Information Digital that what he witnessed inside Religion Temple basically altered his belief in church management.
“How he would do it, how he would use his type of authoritarian-style of management and the way he would discuss to different brothers within the church … pitting them towards me or towards different members,” Dan stated, referring to Robert Cosby Sr. “I wasn’t the one one. There are others that left as a result of they noticed the writing on the wall.”
Dan stated the conduct felt unpredictable and deeply unsettling, notably as a result of it typically appeared calculated.
WATCH: ‘REAL HOUSEWIVES’ STAR RAN A CULT-LIKE CHURCH, FAMILY MEMBERS SAY
“There’s two sides of Robert… virtually a double persona,” Dan stated. “You simply see his true kind come out — a complete Jekyll-and-Hyde … He would preach and really name out folks within the church and mock them … it was simply embarrassing.”
Over time, Dan famous, the conduct escalated to public humiliation throughout church providers.
Mary married her step-grandfather Robert Cosby Sr. in 1998. (Charles Sykes/Bravo by way of Getty Photographs)
“You had been simply afraid to depart. Individuals had been afraid of leaving,” he stated. “That is detrimental to folks.”
For Dan, his time at Religion Temple revealed what he describes as a disturbing sample of abuse masked as non secular steering. He stated that church management steadily exploited members’ religion to implement obedience and loyalty.
“You had been simply afraid to depart. Individuals had been afraid of leaving. That is detrimental to folks.”
Within the docuseries, Dan alleged he endured bodily punishments and witnessed abuse as a toddler — together with kneeling on pins and needles and watching one other little one overwhelmed. Robert Cosby Sr., a army veteran, is accused of shoving Dan throughout a prayer session, which Dan stated turned a turning level that prompted him to depart the church.
“To know, I feel that ‘The Cult of the Actual Housewife’ factors out trauma is actual and that folks will manipulate that and make you suppose that God is a sure manner,” he advised Fox Information Digital. “They’re going to put their very own righteousness into what they imagine.”
He cautioned that such manipulation will be refined, making it laborious for members to acknowledge that they’re being exploited.
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“I feel that is bringing gentle to — folks might be in a cult and never even notice that they’re in a single,” he stated.
Monetary strain was central to the alleged management, Dan stated, with members shamed for failing to offer.
“Individuals might be in a cult and never even notice they’re in a single.”
“It wasn’t essentially what’s going to occur to you … however the strain that you understand you needed to give extra and [being told] ‘you’re low cost,’” he stated.
Scripture was used to strengthen guilt, making members really feel condemned.
In “The Cult of the Actual Housewife,” ex-members opened up in regards to the alleged emotional toll exacted by church teachings that demanded unimaginable selections. (Natalie Cass/Bravo by way of Getty Photographs)
“They’d put all sorts of strain associated to scriptures,” he stated, including that members had been made to really feel condemned. “However whenever you contain your religion and whenever you suppose that you simply’re doing the proper factor, and so they put this responsible conscience on you that you will hell, damnation to you, that for those who’re not going to offer.”
Dan described one of the vital damaging ways as invoking the legacy of “Mama,” the church’s beloved founder, whose teachings emphasised private religion and ethical company.
“Certainly one of Mama’s messages was, ‘Know God for your self,’” Dan stated. “However then they started worshiping this man and this lady as their God.”
WATCH: ‘REAL HOUSEWIVES’ STAR ALLEGEDLY MADE EX CHURCH MEMBER CHOOSE BETWEEN HUSBAND AND GOD
Throughout Season two of “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City,” a former church member named Cameron was launched in what the docuseries describes as a deliberate try to reveal Mary, displaying viewers “who she actually is and what she’s about.”
He stated he took out a $300,000 second mortgage on his residence and gave the cash to Mary, highlighting the alleged monetary entanglements concerned.
Mary Cosby and Robert Cosby Sr. seem throughout “The Actual Housewives of Salt Lake Metropolis” reunion. (Heidi Gutman/Bravo/NBCU Photograph Financial institution by way of Getty Photographs)
This storyline performed a key position in revealing tensions and controversies round Mary’s character and her dealings inside the social circle depicted on the present.
Dan’s spouse, Kim Cosby, advised Fox Information Digital she additionally endured a posh journey marked by religion, household struggles and painful divisions inside her non secular group.
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In “The Cult of the Actual Housewife,” she opened up in regards to the emotional toll exacted by church teachings that demanded unimaginable selections — even between her husband and God.
“Extraordinarily,” Kim advised Fox Information Digital when requested how damaging it was to be advised to decide on between her husband and God. “If I stated I’m going to go residence and cook dinner… then I’m placing him above God.”
“It was at all times a contest … if I didn’t do what they stated, then I’m placing my husband above God.”
She added, “It was at all times a contest … if I didn’t do what they stated, then I’m placing my husband above God.”
“Mama” Cosby’s method, Kim stated, was one among unity and assist — a stark distinction to the divisive ways she claimed emerged after management modifications inside the church.
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Meredith Marks, Mary Cosby, Bronwyn Newport, Angie Katsanevas, Lisa Barlow, Heather Homosexual, and Whitney Rose are pictured in Season 6 of “The Actual Housewives of Salt Lake Metropolis.” (Koury Angelo/Bravo by way of Getty Photographs)
As painful because the previous has been, Dan and Kim see indicators of therapeutic and hope within the current.
Reflecting on twenty years marked by turmoil, Dan stated, “After 20 years … this yr, 2025, and with the assistance of ‘The Cult of the Actual Housewife’ … my household — Kim, my daughters, my grandchildren — I’m of their lives, and we’re stronger than we’ve ever been.”
Nonetheless, therapeutic shouldn’t be easy or fast, Dan emphasised.
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“It doesn’t imply the harm isn’t there … Our previous, these situations, come again to our minds, and that harm — that may solely take God to have the ability to forgive,” he stated.
TLC’s “The Cult of the Actual Housewife” is accessible to stream on HBO Max and Discovery+.
