Jax Taylor Is Leaving ‘The Valley,’ at Least for Now
Hark, the heralds! Out they go, to every streetcorner and rooftop to sing of the good news: Jax Taylor has officially left Bravo’s The Valley.
Variety reports that the embattled reality television villain has officially left Bravo’s fledgling hit followup to Vanderpump Rules. His statement to the outlet reads: “After an incredibly challenging year and many honest conversations with my team and producers, I’ll be stepping away from the next season of The Valley. Right now, my focus needs to be on my sobriety, my mental health, and coparenting relationship. Taking this time is necessary for me to become the best version of myself — especially for our son, Cruz.”
The news comes after outcry from fans, viewers, and critics after a season spent documenting Taylor’s outright abusive behavior towards ex-wife Brittany Cartwright. In the season premiere, he and Cartwright both detail an incident between them in which he flipped a coffee table at her in a fit of rage while their son was present. His anger issues were then extensively documented on camera while in-and-out of treatment over the course of season two’s production schedule, like frequent and emotionally volatile texts to Cartwright, stalking over the couple’s shared security cameras and more.
As cast member Michelle Saniei told Cartwright in the season two premiere: “You have to be very careful, Brittany. If he’s escalating, it takes one second for something to happen. And once something happens, there’s no going back.”
In an earlier Variety piece, executive producer Alex Baskin — who famously conceived of The Valley with Taylor as the centerpiece years ago — said of Cartwright’s mentality this season: “She was going to say everything that she had experienced — that’s her story. She felt like the problem was he had been enabled for too long. And she’s like, ‘Fuck that. I’m not doing that. I’m going to say it out loud.’ She was done. She was going to say everything.” He added that what the show would become for season three, as of June, was still up in the air. “It’s very likely the show does look different next season, but I don’t know what different means.”
Apparently, the first major step involves Taylor’s exit. Notably, his statement does not read with any finality, leaving room for a possible return in later seasons. Baskin has made dramatic returns something of a staple on his stable of shows, from The Real Housewives of Orange County and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills to Vanderpump Rules. Taylor himself did not appear for the show’s 9th and 10th seasons, before making a guest appearance in season twelve to jumpstart The Valley premiere. His exit was due to his public behavior towards former cast member Faith Stowers, who he made racist remarks about alongside The Valley co-star Kristen Doute, who has since apologized.
I’m curious to see if there will be a gag order on Cartwright that forbids her from discussing Taylor on camera, or even filming with their son Cruz. It’s something we’ve seen the men of Vanderpump Rules do in the past, like Lala Kent’s ex Randall Emmett, who did not allow himself to be named or his child with Kent to be filmed. On The Real Housewives of Orange County, we’ve seen similar moves pulled by exes like Simon Barney.
Once, villains like Jax Taylor were the gold-standard on Bravo, pulling fantastic ratings while invigorating shows with strife and chaos. Longtime viewers will remember his many scuffles and indiscretions on Vanderpump Rules, scenes once seen as the best the network had to offer. But there is a distinct line between the entertaining chaos of Taylor admitting to sleeping with his best friend’s girlfriend while he was watching Drive and abusing his soon-to-be ex-wife. It is entirely possible to be entertaining without also being violent, a standard Bravo appears to be more-and-more keen on upholding across the network after a spate of incidents and lawsuits these past few years.
The question is, then: Will they keep that same standard should ratings dip?
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