The documentary, which premiered on January 1, has prompted a wave of reactions from Mary’s family members and former churchgoers. They voiced concerns that the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star’s church, Faith Temple Pentecostal Church, might function like a cult, with numerous members reportedly surrendering a significant portion of their earnings to the church.

In TLC’s new documentary, The Cult of the Real Housewife, Mary Cosby’s cousin alleged +her husband Robert C. Cosby Sr. and elders in their church once led “abusive” training sessions for young boys, and an elder “kicked” a child. Meanwhile, an ex-congregant said he heard that Mary asked members not to donate to his GoFundMe after his daughter’s fatal car accident.

In the documentary, Mary’s cousin, Dan Cosby, reflected on his youth, saying, “Back then, we attended meetings known as the Brotherhood. Every Saturday, Robert and some elders gathered all the young boys from the church. Their goal was to teach us how to be men, but it involved physical activities. We’d do push-ups, run around the church, and the sessions would last the entire day. Eventually, it turned into something abusive.”

Adding his perspective, Mary’s uncle, Sam Kelly, shared his experience.

“He would have us hold books with our arms stretched out in a T shape,” Sam explained, demonstrating the stance. “Then, he’d instruct us to run in place while maintaining that position.”

“He would make us hold books up out like this,” said Sam, holding his arms straight out in the form of a T. “And then he would have us run in place.”

“[They would take] a pin and [put] it under your knees so you wouldn’t…” said Dan, stopping for a moment as he began to choke up. “… [so] your knees wouldn’t hit this pin or it’d stick you, obviously. I remember a kid … couldn’t do a push-up or sit-up, and I remember one of the guys – one of the elders – kicked him. He kicked the kid.”

According to Sam, Robert’s late-wife Rosemary – the pastor of the church at the time, and Mary’s grandmother – didn’t know about the meetings until a boy named Demetrius told her that the men were “beating on” them and making them exercise while holding “needles under our legs.” Rosemary then purportedly put a stop to it.

The documentary also showed a clip from RHOSLC of Mary telling Whitney about a tragic car accident that took the life of Maikel Enoch – the daughter of Mary’s congregant Michael Enoch. At the end of the clip, Mary smiled and said, “Wear your seatbelt!”

In the documentary, the father reacted to the clip.

“That was an attack on me and my daughter,” said Michael. “You have to be one miserable human being to go that low … Now that’s a pastor? No sir. Not at all … Why are you speaking on my daughter anyway? You didn’t send condolences.”

According to Michael, he heard that Mary told church members not to help him raise money for Maikel’s memorial service – and that if they had already donated to his GoFundMe, they should “take it back.”

Maikel’s aunt speculated that Mary asked for this because she knew that some of the money in the GoFundMe would otherwise have gone to her church.