Jax Taylor & Bravo Executive Producer Alex Baskin Reveal What Actually Led to Jax’s ‘Vanderpump Rules’ Exit; Alex Recalls Jax “Sabotaging Production” & More

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 you may remember, Bravo announced in January 2024 that The Valley, a ‘Vanderpump Rules’ spinoff, was premiering on the network in the spring, featuring former ‘Vanderpump Rules’ stars Jax, Brittany Cartwright and Kristen Doute, all of whom had exited the series in 2020. 

While Kristen (and Stassi Schroeder) had been given the boot over racist actions against castmate Faith Stowers, the reason behind Jax and wife Brittany’s exit was unclear. 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. 

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, as reported by Us Weekly. “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, though he said this week that he now realizes this was an example of him “micromanaging” production. 

“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. 

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 allegedly 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, 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.”