Why Jake Shane Was With Rob Rausch When He Bought Maura Higgins a Birkin
When The Traitors Season 4 winner Rob Rausch promised co-star Maura Higgins a Hermès Birkin bag, the hard part wasn’t paying for it. It was figuring out how to actually get one.
Rausch, 27, won $220,800 in prize money on the Peacock reality competition after tricking Higgins into believing he was a Faithful player. He was a Traitor the whole time, alongside Lisa Rinna and Candiace Dillard Bassett, and he later recruited Eric Nam after both women were banished from the castle.
The betrayal cut deep. Rausch broke a “pinky promise” to Higgins that they’d win the game together, revealing his true identity on the Season 4 finale. At the reunion, Higgins set her price for forgiveness: a Hermès Birkin.
Rausch agreed. Then the real challenge started.
The Hermès Purchasing Problem
Hermès customers can only acquire a Birkin if they have a relationship with a sales associate and spend a significant amount of money on other products. You don’t browse. You don’t add to cart. You build a buying history, develop a rapport, and wait.
Rausch, a reality TV contestant, didn’t have that kind of relationship. So he called in reinforcements.
Lisa Rinna Mapped Out the Whole Operation
Rinna, 62, broke down the entire process via TikTok on Sunday, March 8.
“Let’s talk about the Birkin bag!” she said. “I’m so excited about the bag. I’m so excited that we got to come full circle.” She added, “You can see how happy Maura is.”
Rinna confirmed she helped Rausch secure the purchase. “I said I would, and we did it. We got it for her.”
The connection came through her personal network. “My friends Isaac Boots and Jeffery helped with that connection because they had the connection in New York, so we were able to make that happen quickly,” Rinna explained. Without that New York connection, Rinna said they would have had to travel to Paris to get the bag, which is estimated to cost between $16,000 and $22,000. “It would have taken a bit longer.”
Why Jake Shane Tagged Along
Rinna revealed that Rausch reached out to her and wrote “important” to get her attention. Jake Shane, the Therapuss podcast host, and Rob then FaceTimed Lisa to coordinate the plan.
“So they’re doing the podcast, and they tell me that Jake is gonna go with Rob to get the Birkin. Cause he should have a gay with him,” Lisa explained in the video.
The timeline: Rob filmed an episode of Therapuss, set for release on Wednesday, March 12, and then took Jake along to secure the bag. He needed another opinion, and Jake fit the bill.
The On-Air Reveal
On the March 4 episode of Watch What Happens Live, Rausch delivered.
Host Andy Cohen polled the studio audience on whether getting a Birkin bag is enough to forgive someone. Ninety percent voted yes. Rausch then put on gloves and grabbed the iconic orange Hermès box from behind the bar.
“See this is my win,” Higgins said. “I knew I’d have my moment.”
Rausch presented her with a burgundy Togo Birkin bag in a size 30 with gold hardware, retailing for $16,000. He kept his gloves on, telling Higgins, “Only the owner’s supposed to touch it first.”
She posed with the bag, jumped up to hug Rausch, and shouted, “You’re forgiven.”
Rob filmed an episode of Jake Shane’s Therapuss podcast before they headed out together to buy the bag, and that episode drops Wednesday, March 12.
Production of this article included the use of AI. It was reviewed and edited by a team of content specialists.
