Jax Taylor & Bravo Exec Producer Alex Baskin Reveal Real Reason Jax Was Let Go From ‘Vanderpump Rules’ Exit: “Sabotaging Production”

Jax Taylor is reflecting on a particular incident that led to his exit from Vanderpump Rules in 2020– a move that he previously claimed was entirely his decision. 

As fans will remember, in December 2020, it was announced that Jax and his then-wife Brittany Cartwright would be leaving ‘Vanderpump Rules.’ Some cast members have claimed that Jax was fired from the show and Brittany decided to follow him, although the couple have maintained that the decision to leave the series was theirs alone. A specific reason for Jax and Brittany’s departure was never given. (As fans know, Jax and Brittany— as well as Kristen Doute, who was fired from ‘VP’ in 2020— eventually came back to the network to appear on The Valley.) 

This week, Jax dropped the premiere episode of his In the Mind of a Man podcast, during which he and guest Alex Baskin, executive producer of ‘Vanderpump Rules’ and ‘The Valley,’ revealed what they claim to be the real reason behind Jax’s exit– a moment Jax referred to as his “final demise.” 

“I think my final demise– which put the nail in the coffin for me– is towards the end,” Jax recalled. “Obviously everybody who’s watched the show has always noticed that towards the end I would have a lot of diva moments where I’m like, ‘I’m done, I’m moving to Florida.’ I was just heated. There was a lot of arguing and fighting going on, as per usual.” 

(As The Ashley previously told you, Jax has claimed to be moving to Florida multiple times over the years, both before and after leaving ‘Vanderpump Rules.’) 

Jax– who recently opened up on Alex’s Bravo’s Hot Mic podcast about his decades-long cocaine addiction and struggle with “substance issues”– went on in the episode to cite a particular moment during Season 7 of ‘Vanderpump Rules’ when he became particularly angry over the cast being asked to film a scene on the beach in Malibu. Because most of the cast lived in Hollywood at the time, Jax said he suggested that the scene be filmed somewhere in West Hollywood instead. (The Ashley would like to interject here, though, for those unfamiliar with the greater Los Angeles area, West Hollywood and the Malibu beaches are about 24 miles apart– a distance that can take well over an hour to travel at times.) 

“I was pulling a diva moment by saying, ‘I’m not going to the beach. We could literally get that same exact conversation that we’re trying to get at the park across the street,’” he recalled. “They wanted us to go to the beach and help clean– which is fine– but I just was not f**king doing it. 

“I was not going to drive three hours and that’s when I needed a piece of humble pie,” he continued, adding that he now realizes this was an example of him “micromanaging” production. 

Alex agreed with Jax’s comments, admitting that the Season 7 incident was likely the moment that Bravo “had enough” of him; however, Alex noted that Jax didn’t just refuse to film the scene in Malibu at the time, he also told other cast members not to show up to film the scene either. 

“That’s what it was,” Alex insisted. “ … you were being a pain in the a** about it and you were saying, ‘I’m not going to go, this is so stupid.’ And then you were texting other people. So then of course, we saw those texts and were like, ‘Can you believe Jax is sabotaging the production?’” 

Jax went on to call his actions at the time “such a dumb a** move,” reiterating that it felt like a “nail in the coffin” moment following years of him rubbing the show’s producers wrong. 

“That was the final straw,” Jax said. “They’re like, ‘Listen, he needs a piece of humble pie and he can’t be doing this. He can’t be texting other cast members trying to form a mutiny.’” 

While Jax and Alex insist that Jax’s Season 7 behavior was what ultimately led to Jax’s exit from ‘Vanderpump Rules,’ it’s worth noting that shortly before Jax announced he was leaving the show, fans had been calling for him to be axed after several of his costars (Kristen, Stassi Schroeder, Max Boyens and Brett Caprioni) were fired for offensive and racist behavior. 

Lisa Vanderpump– who was also an executive producer for ‘Vanderpump Rules’– suggested that Jax and Brittany were, in fact, fired from the Bravo series when asked in March 2021 if she was “surprised” that the couple “decided to take a step back.” 

“Was I surprised? What? That they decided?” Lisa told Us Weekly. “Well, if you put it like that, yeah, I would have been really surprised.”  

Season 2 of ‘The Valley’ premieres April 15 on Bravo.