Former Jen Shah clothing designer Koa Johnson says she was “traumatized” after a ten-month stint with the star of “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.”
On Friday, after Shah’s alleged audio leak denouncing the designer, Johnson told Page Six that the incident occurred on November 6, 2020, five days before the season 1 premiere of “RHOSLC.” .
“It was a very, very stressful time,” Johnson, who was in charge of designing her dress for the premiere, told us. “She was not sleeping. He didn’t take care of me physically or mentally, but I kept operating adrenaline. ”
He added: “It was like the most traumatic months of my life.”
Although Johnson says he doesn’t know who leaked the audio, he’s glad someone recorded it.
He also claimed that the incident was Shah’s fault because it caused delays in getting the dress, which led to “See What Happens Live with Andy Cohen” that night – together.
“There was a delay in the fabric, which was on his part,” he says. “I was waiting for him to receive all the money transferred to the credit card so that it could be bought. That process even delayed him even more. “
Johnson says he was finally able to make the purchase on Nov. 9, but he only had 17-20 hours to turn around and make him the two-piece suit.
During the short time she spent with the 47-year-old reality star, Johnson designed about 12 looks for her, including her Biden-Harris outfit, her photo suit, and her reunion outfit.
“I really felt like I was a sister and I was her brother,” she said, adding that they are both of Polynesian descent. “We came from the same blood, from the same race.”
However, Johnson also alleges that Shah stopped paying him most of his work, and claimed on Instagram that he was last paid “in September, although I continued to work until January. “.
“Many of the reasons I kept working with her [despite] these circumstances [was] because he really cared for her, ”he told us. “As we show it to our brothers or sisters, to our people we look at it is that we do things because we show our love.”
Shah’s representatives did not return to us immediately.
Johnson, who also designed the meeting dress for Heather Gay, says she stopped working for Shah on Jan. 11, after recording the “RHOSLC” meeting. The last straw for him was when Shah didn’t yell at him.
“I’m watching everyone say who’s wearing it,” she recalled, “and Heather told me and when she went to Jen, I expected her to say the same thing and say my name and she didn’t and that hurt me. ”.
She added, “That hurt me a lot because it was the last dress I was going to make for her in season 1.”
Johnson hopes that talking about what he supposedly experienced would help other people in similar situations.
“I have to tell my truth and I hope that if there is anyone working in a hostile work environment, they come out and talk about it,” he said, adding that he wants Shah to see it and “take responsibility” for the their actions and behaviors “.
“I know this has been a problem during his first season: not taking any responsibility or whatever because I was there for the witness. I really wish him the best of luck for the second season: he will need it.”