The Untold Truth Of Shahs Of Sunset
For seven seasons, fans have watched the stars of Shahs of Sunset publicly air their drama — and that drama is certainly juicy. From cheating scandals and divorces to drunken shenanigans, fertility woes, and the occasional ill-advised quip from Reza, it seems like there's almost nothing the cast feels like they need to hide. They're certainly known for baring it all, but there are a couple things creeping below their larger-than-life exteriors.
From secret pregnancies to childhood drug problems, the cast of Shahs are a whole lot more than meets the eye — and some of what they've endured is actually really scary. It goes well beyond unfollowing your BFF on social media. For MJ, it meant almost dying while giving birth. For Jessica Parido, it meant falling into the arms of a potential violent felon. With eight seasons under their belts, as of this writing, and certain Shahs even gone from the series already, the cast's dark secrets are only just beginning to come to light.
GG used drugs as a child
Golnesa "GG" Gharachedaghi, Shahs of Sunset's resident firecracker, has a darker past that extends beyond a difficult, month-long marriage and some highly amped up arguments with her cast mates. In an interview with E!'s Just the Sip (via People), the star admitted she had a "massive drug past" and started using when she was just 11 years old.
GG, whose latest business venture is the cannabis company WüSah, admitted that she used to use cocaine and weed, and lied to her immigrant parents to make it seem like all American kids were allowed to use drugs. Since her parents didn't want to be "too strict," she claims that along with her sister, they "got away with everything." GG did drugs for nearly 14 years before checking into rehab in April 2005, but only reached her "breaking point" in 2016.
"Two years ago. I think the breaking point just happened for me, I think," she told Just the Sip (via People). "I hope that was it, because I think I was at my lowest. I think I was at the point where I'm like, 'I don't know if I want to keep going anymore.'"
GG claims to now only use cannabis to help cope with the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.
MJ had a near-death experience while giving birth
Mercedes "MJ" Javid didn't have an easy path to motherhood. On Shahs of Sunset, the fact that she was a single, 40-something woman who didn't have children was a major punchline, but the real estate agent eventually turned to IVF to have a baby with her husband Tommy Feight. Unfortunately, the cameras never caught just how difficult the experience would actually be — and how it would almost cost her her life.
Javid's pregnancy was considered high risk, according to a series of Instagram videos posted by the star. In one such update, she revealed was hospitalized amid fears of a possible miscarriage around 18 weeks in. She then underwent cervical cerclage surgery and was ordered to stay on bed rest until the baby came. When the baby finally did come via C-section, Javid's complications only multiplied.
"During my delivery, I lost two thirds of my body's blood supply, requiring 19 units of blood during the surgery, then [was] intubated and placed in ICU from having significant fluid in my lungs after my C-section," she told Us Weekly. Her husband described the delivery as the "worst night of my life" because of his wife's complications, but their baby was born happy and healthy in April 2019.
Reza and MJ's behind-the-scenes feud
Mercedes Javid and Reza Farahan's friendship has outlasted all of their cast mates' marriages (especially GG's month-long excursion into matrimony, but more on that later). Though they've had their fair share of explosive arguments during their 30-year friendship, they've always managed to work things out. Unfortunately, it looks like these BFFs might actually be breaking up for good. Is it the end of an era?
According to Page Six, Farahan blocked Javid on social media while she was in the ICU after giving birth, a cold move for a longtime pal. He reportedly didn't reach out to her during or after the delivery, and never tried to see the baby. She allegedly believed he was too preoccupied with his own marriage problems to bother (as fans know, Farahan admitted in the Season 7 reunion (via The Daily Dish) that he had asked his husband for a divorce during "a rough patch"). Thus, a feud was ignited and confirmed by Javid to Us Weekly. We're guessing it'll play out over Season 8.
"He and I clearly have some things going on," she told the tabloid. "And that should never have come before me being in ICU and birth of my son. What I can say is that before I went into the hospital, we were fine."
Let's hope these two patch things up because a Shahs without MJ and Reza isn't Shahs at all.
MJ reportedly didn't sign her Season 8 contract
Mercedes Javid's feud with Reza Farahan seems like a bigger deal than their spats from previous seasons. Perhaps too much has happened — between Farahan's marital issues and Javid's pregnancy — that one of the BFFs is ready to move on. According to Page Six, MJ reportedly held off on signing her contract with Bravo amid her budding feud with Farahan, even though the network already started filming Season 8. If she can't reach a deal, will she walk?
Even though Season 8 has been filming without the star, as of this writing, the show's main plot points reportedly center on her drama with Farahan. She is allegedly "waiting for a deal that [reflects] her contribution to the show," which might be even greater considering the ongoing feud. In an interview with Us Weekly, the star dispelled rumors that she was leaving the series because of Reza (and honestly, maybe she just needed some time to be a new mom).
"The feud between Reza and me would never preclude me from doing my show," Javid told the tabloid. "Everyone knows I don't run from confrontation. In fact, I'm the only one who actually faces them in front of cameras, and this issue would be no different."
Janice Dickinson sued the series
When you think Shahs of Sunset, you don't exactly think of Janice Dickinson, but the famed model did appear on the series during a fashion show segment with Golnesa "GG" Gharachedaghi — and she was reportedly pretty angry about how she was portrayed.
In the episode, Dickinson walks by Gharachedaghi backstage at a fashion show. The Shahs of Sunset star, who's sitting in a makeup chair, turns around to realize that the supermodel is wearing her sequined romper. She then asks designer Erik Rosette about the outfit, and he tells her that her look got "jacked." GG responds, "You can find that old a** b***h something else."
According to TMZ, Dickinson claimed the entire spat was completely fake. She had no idea the romper was chosen by anyone else and claimed Rosette made-up the controversy. Moreover, she claimed that she never approved her appearance on the show, which normally runs a tab of $75,000. Dickinson ended up suing Ryan Seacrest's production company claiming they portrayed her as "an arrogant, unprofessional and purportedly past-her-prime celebrity."
TMZ later reported that a judge threw out Dickinson's suit because the edit that appeared on TV wasn't "misleading enough" (even if it was kind of mean).
Shervin Roohparvar is embroiled in an extortion lawsuit
With fame comes money, and with money comes lawsuits. Swinging into Season 8, no one found this out more than Shervin Roohparvar, who was reportedly the only Shahs cast member to visit Javid and her baby, and the only one we know of who got involved in an extortion lawsuit.
According to TMZ, Roohparvar filed the lawsuit after meeting a woman from the Internet in Las Vegas in 2018. They reportedly hit it off on social media, met at his hotel room, and had a drink before he left for a "business engagement." Roohparvar claimed the lady randomly started "shouting obscenities" and "[accused] him of slipping her a drug" before she ran out of the hotel room. She allegedly told police that Roohparvar "drugged her," but the cops never took any action against him.
A month later, the Shahs of Sunset star received a letter from the woman's agent — yes, agent because this is Hollywood — asking for $350,000 or she'd "rat him out to production companies." He decided to sue for extortion, instead. Though we're not sure how this lawsuit is going to play out, it definitely serves as a testament to how celebs probably shouldn't meet random strangers from the Internet and vice versa.
The real reason Lilly Ghalichi left the series
Lilly Ghalichi left Shahs of Sunset after Season 3, but there's a lot of speculation about what led to the self-proclaimed Persian princess' departure. It seems like absolutely no one can agree — from her cast mates to the tabloids to the star herself.
Ghalichi, who got married in 2017, isn't really so close with her former cast mates. The star reportedly snubbed a few of them from her wedding guest list, but it's not surprising considering what's been happening behind her back. After TMZ first reported that Ghalichi was fired from the series because she was boring, Javid quipped that it was actually because she was a fraud. "It was inevitable ... you gotta be real to be on reality TV," Javid told TMZ. "I think [Ghalichi] is very interesting, but I don't think she was herself, and that's why she's not on it."
Ghalichi, however, had a few different takes on the situation. First, she claimed that she's the one who quit the series, telling Bravo's The Daily Dish that she wanted to focus on her various businesses. A few years later, in a podcast interview with Nik Richie (via Pop Dust), she owned up to a little additional drama. "I didn't want to be a part of it anymore," she said, adding, "It's a very hostile, negative thing to be a part of it and I'm just not emotionally equipped for it."
Jessica Parido dated a possible felon as a divorce rebound
Shahs of Sunset fans watched Mike Shouhed's marriage to Jessica Parido dissolve over the course of a couple seasons. Their divorce was finalized in the fall of 2016, and Parido wasted no time jumping into the dating pool. She was spotted out with a new man, Karlen "Chris" Shubaralyan, just a week after filing for divorce in November 2015.
Though Parido told Entertainment Tonight that she was "happy" with Shubaralyan, there was an apparent dark side to her new man that she may not have known about. According to ET, the businessman was charged in February 2016 with "10 felony counts in a domestic violence case." His counts included "forcible rape, stalking and first-degree burglary," as well as "injuring a spouse," "dissuading a witness from reporting a crime," and "criminal threats."
Shubaralyan's charges spanned from 2014 to just a week or so before his relationship with Parido went public. The businessman was allegedly victimizing his ex-wife, who had a restraining order against him at the time — and these aren't his only charges. When he was booked for domestic violence, he was already out on bail for "nine felony counts including grand theft and passing non-sufficient funds checks exceeding $950."
It's unclear what actually happened with Shubaralyan's case, but he faced a maximum of 25 years and 8 months in prison. Shouhed confirmed that Parido had split from her new beau shortly after his criminal history made the news.
Jessica Parido had a secret pregnancy
Jessica Parido's fertility was always up in the air. In an Instagram post, the star admitted she was told that the high doses of chemotherapy she received while battling leukemia as a 15 year old would make her sterile. She "struggled with accepting" the reality that even "after 15 years and countless specialists ... [she] would never have children of my own." But then, she got pregnant — and she managed to hide it from everyone. The star gave birth to a healthy baby boy on February 23, 2019.
"The level of shock and disbelief I had when I found out I was pregnant naturally was unimaginable," she wrote in the same Instagram post. "To say this came without struggle would be a lie. The traditional family I've dreamed of my entire life is not something I have. The vision of love, marriage then baby I had wanted is gone. I decided to keep my pregnancy off of social media and enjoy the time without the opinions and comments of others."
Though Parido kept her pregnancy under wraps, she did share the news with her ex-husband. According to Page Six, Parido told Shouhed "early on in the pregnancy," and she was "pleasantly surprised" by his positivity. Cheers to the new mom!
The reason Asa Soltan Rahmati ditched Shahs full-time
Ahead of Season 7, Asa Soltan Rahmati announced that she'd be leaving her full-time role on Shahs of Sunset. Why? Her perspective totally changed with motherhood. Fans know that Soltan Rahmati had been quietly dating Jermaine Jackson Jr., Michael Jackson's nephew, for a number of years even though he's never appeared with her on camera. It's not even clear if the pair ever tied the knot (Page Six claims they're married, but most tabloids claim they're not). This couple is private, and it makes sense that they'd want to raise their kid away from the limelight.
Jackson and Soltan Rahmati welcomed a baby boy named Soltan in January 2017, and Soltan Rahmati's pregnancy was a major plot point in the series. Though she was extremely private about her path to conception with her cast mates, the star did eventually own up to freezing her eggs at a younger age. She later admitted she actually froze embryos but still maintained the fact that she conceived her child naturally while her cast mates remained skeptical.
Since giving birth, Soltan Rahmati has decided to shift her priorities and focus on being a mom while running her businesses. "Like all parents, we want to provide Soltan with the best possible upbringing, and we believe that is not being raised in front of cameras," she wrote on Twitter.
Asa Soltan Rahmati was the family breadwinner
Unlike Golnesa "GG" Gharachedaghi, who bragged about having a $7,000 per month allowance from her father during Shahs of Sunset's earlier seasons, Soltan Rahmati didn't come from money. The star has had to work hard for everything she's had and actually had a pretty tough upbringing. The mother-of-one had to support her family since she was 22 years old. She kept this a secret through the earlier seasons of Shahs.
"I have actually financially supported my parents since I was in my early 20s, with regular payments every month," she admitted in a Bravo blog post. "You didn't see me talk about this before because I don't want to put my father on blast about having lost his business."
Soltan Rahmati admitted her father doesn't have a retirement plan, and things got really serious when he lost his business a few years before she appeared on the show. Since then, her main goals were to make as much money as possible, and that's how the star broke into real estate. She bought a property in 2003 that tripled in value which she rents out as her "main source of income" (you know, besides her beau having access to the Michael Jackson estate fortune and her Bravo paycheck). Nonetheless, good on Asa for the hustle.
GG's marriage mistake
Golnesa "GG" Gharachedaghi's seven-week-long marriage is finally officially over. As most of us know, the star's divorce was almost as painful on-camera as Mike Shouhed's. It's not even clear who would win a contest of which was worse, but for a marriage that didn't even last two months, GG sure paid for it a long time.
Gharachedaghi and Shalom Yeroushalmi had a whirlwind relationship. They got together in September 2016, and he proposed in December of that year. They tied the knot a month later. The whole thing was apparently way more difficult to get out of than it was to get in. According to Page Six, Yeroushalmi refused to sign the divorce papers. There were reportedly "no issues about spousal support," but rather, he was just "tormenting her." Sounds like a lovely person to marry — and it's probably part of the underlying reason Gharachedaghi regretted the marriage almost instantly.
In an interview with E! News, the Shahs of Sunset star admitted that "she knew her marriage was a mistake less than 48 hours" after tying the knot. She tried to let go of her self-admitted commitment issues by trying an "intense commitment" but "wanted to throw up" when it actually happened. "It was wrong, and it's kind of a pattern with me," she told E! News. "I make just fast decisions in the moment, and I pay the price afterwards, and I am right now."