Lala Kent Shades Jax as “Manipulative But Not Smart,” Calls Jesse “Calculated” as She Compares Their Divorces, Weighs In on Bravo Friendships, and Reveals What Producer Alex Baskin Said Off-Camera

Lala Kent claimed Jax Taylor is “manipulative” but “not smart enough” to be “calculated.” The Vanderpump Rules alum also addressed if Bravo friendships are real, and shared what executive producer Alex Baskin said about how he feels when cameras go down.

On the new season of The Valley, both Jax and Jesse are divorcing their respective wives, with custody at play. In one episode, Jesse hinted that he wants his daughter to go to school in Orange County, even though his estranged wife Michelle Saniei doesn’t live there. As for Jax, his wife Brittany Cartwright claimed he had rage incidents while their son was present.

On the May 5 episode of her “Give Them Lala” podcast, Lala was asked if she’d rather have Jax or Jesse as an ex.

“I … would choose Jax,” she said, via @vanderpodrecaps on Instagram. “[Even though] Jax has been diagnosed as a narcissist, I believe that Jesse [also] is 100% a narcissist … Once you have a child with a narcissist, your life becomes hell.”

“I would pick Jax over Jesse,” she insisted. “The way that [Jax] goes about things, he’s very manipulative, but … he’s not smart enough to be calculated. He’s too transparent in his calculations … You can call the cops and immediately have something done … You have ring footage to show that there was a point in time that he made the household unsafe while your son was there. He would be very, very easy to go up against in court for custody and including divorce.”

Lala shared why she wouldn’t want Jesse as an ex.

“[Jesse] is so calculated. He will make your life hell. He will make sure, because he goes through his calculations,” she said. “And nothing he does would ever … be caught dead on camera. He will never be caught dead doing something while the child is in his care. So if she ever went to a judge, that judge would immediately say, ‘[He looks] squeaky clean. He’s making your life miserable, but he’s really good to the daughter.’”

At one point in the podcast, Lala addressed if she thinks Bravo friendships are real.

“I will forever stand by the fact that Bravo has done such an incredible job of putting women together where there’s history, true friendships,” she stated. “And maybe the baseline for some of them was like, oh, we filmed a show together.”

“But off camera, [executive producer] Alex Baskin said it perfectly. He did a podcast … and he was specifically talking about Vanderpump Rules, but let’s remember he does [Real Housewives],” shared Lala. “[He said], ‘The moment you put cameras down, you get a pit in your stomach because you’re missing story.”

Lala’s brother and co-host Easton Birmingham added, “I saw him say that. He goes, ‘It’s hard to put the cameras down because you know when you do, there’s … a multitude of stories are still happening that we’re missing.'”