Jax Taylor is speaking out.
The Vanderpump Rules alum broke his silence after his estranged wife Brittany Cartwright—from whom he split in 2024 after five years of marriage—was granted a temporary restraining order against him after claiming he repeatedly threatened to “gut” her “like a fucken [sic] fish,” according to court docs obtained by E! News.
“I made a lot of mistakes and behaved in ways during that period of my life that I’m truly ashamed of and regret and take full responsibility for,” Jax wrote in a statement shared with E! News Aug. 28. “The person I was in 2024, during the darkest time of my life and at the height of my addiction, is not the person I am today. I got help, went to treatment, and today I’m 1 year and 9 months sober. I’ve remained committed to treatment and therapy, working on myself and changing my life.”
The 47-year-old—who shares son Cruz, 5, with Brittany—added “there are allegations being made that I strongly dispute. The full story, context and evidence will be addressed where it belongs – in court.”
read
Jax Taylor Says He’s “in Love” With His, Brittany Cartwright’s Ex Publicist Lori Krebs
“I will respect the court’s orders and the legal process,” Jax—who’s now dating his and Brittany’s former publicist Lori Krebs—ended. “My focus continues to be my sobriety, working on my mental health, being the best father I can be to Cruz and moving forward in a healthy and responsible way.”
Brittany, 37, alleged in her Aug. 27 request for a restraining order that Jax has “exhibited a pattern of coercive control, financial abuse, emotional and psychological abuse, gaslighting and even physical violence perpetrated upon me.”
“Throughout our relationship,” her filing continued, “Respondent has threatened to ‘gut me like a fish,’ threatened to kill me, physically attacked me” and “thrown furniture,” which she says caused her “personal injury.”
The Valley star also alleged that Jax has broken “at least three iPhones of mine, one iPad, destroyed property at our home, attempted to break in, stalked me, accessed my iPhone and messages and even Instagram account without my consent, deleted messages on my phone without my consent, removed my jewelry from the home without my consent and has refused to return them to me.”
The most recent altercation was on Aug. 21 when Jax allegedly threatened to call the police on her over a child safety fence around her pool
According to the documents, Jax is required to stay 100 yards away from Brittany until their next court date on Sept. 17 when a judge will consider Brittany’s request for sole custody, which was denied until the forthcoming hearing.
Keep reading for more details on Jax and Brittany’s divorce…
Michael Simon/Shutterstock
“This isn’t my first time being caught cheating,” Jax admitted at the time as the drama played out on Vanderpump Rules. “In the past, I’ve gone through months and months of deny, deny, deny, and that didn’t work for me.”
But while a devasted Brittany broke up with him, they got back together months later and eventually wed in 2020.
“Yes, marriages in general are very hard and I’ve had a particularly rough year this past year,” the Kentucky native shared on their When Reality Hits podcast. “Jax and I are taking time apart and I made the decision to move into another home to take some space for the sake of my mental health.”
“I’m taking one day at a time,” Brittany added. “I don’t know what the future holds, but right now my focus is on being the best mom to Cruz.”
“I don’t feel like he’s attracted to me, we don’t have sex ever,” Brittany admitted in the March 11 preview before Jax added, “It’s so hard to be married sometimes.”
Plus, costar Janet Caperna teased in the clip, “There’s a rumor about Jax cheating online.”
“We’re just having a little communication issues right now. That’s all, there’s nothing else,” he exclusively told E! News March 14 at The Valley premiere party. “There’s no cheating. There’s no infidelity anywhere. It’s just communication. I know it’s shocking, but people sometimes just don’t get along and that’s life.”
“We see each other every single day,” he added. “The only thing that’s different is we just don’t sleep under the same roof. That’s it.”
“We got into a very bad fight and I decided to pack up my stuff,” the 35-year-old exclusively told E! News March 18, “and I’ve been staying in an Airbnb since January 24.”
“I’m doing it for my mental space,” she added, “and I feel very strong with my decision to get out for a while.”
“He’s no. 1 and we both agree on that,” Jax told E!. “It’s about knowing he’s got two loving parents that love him to death and he’s gonna have the best life possible, whether we are together or not.”
As for their increased fighting, Brittany agreed, “I just don’t want that for our son. I don’t want him growing up thinking it’s normal to live like that.”
“I don’t think anybody will ever love Jax the way I’ve loved Jax,” Brittany told E!. “Over all these years, I’ve been through so much with him and I’m stuck by his side through everything. So I think that if he makes certain changes that I’ve asked, maybe we could get back together. But right now, I just really need to figure out myself. I felt really strong and really proud of myself for being able to step out and do what’s right for me. My mental health is super important.”
“Everybody predicted that when they got married,” the Real Housewives alum shared with E!. “They said, ‘Oh this won’t last long,’ but I kind of never liked to draw conclusions.”
“I don’t know what the reason was,” she added, “but I imagine it was probably something to do with Jax’s bad behavior. I’m not sure, but the indicator of future behavior is normally past behavior.”
“I’m proud of Brittany for setting boundaries for making the choice for her,” Kristen admitted. “But I’m very hopeful that they can work this out. But that’s on Jax, that’s not on her.”
As costar Kristen Doute recounted, “Does he say, ‘I know I treat you like s—t. ‘I know I’m mean. I know I’ve called you fat and I’ve told you you’re f–king lazy and that you’re not going to have any friends if you guys break up?'”
The VPR alum mainly credited son Cruz as the reason he saught professional help.
“Working on getting better for you buddy,” Jax wrote in an Instagram post July 31 alongside a photo of him planting a kiss on the little one’s cheek. “I love you.”
Though Jax confirmed in his filing that he and Brittany wed in June 2019, he also checked a box on the document reading, “Respondent contends that the parties never legally married or registered in a domestic partnership.”
His rep later told E! News, “While Jax made errors in filing out forms that are usually done by trained legal professionals, those errors will be amended without delay.”
“We are legally married,” she commented on E! News’ Instagram post about Jax’s response snafu. “I’m guessing paperwork is hard for some people.”
“We did not have a no dating in the friend group policy,” she told Bravo’s Hot Mic Nov. 11. “We never spoke about that because why would we? First off, I didn’t think I was going to hook up with his friend. It wasn’t planned. I wasn’t trying to go after one of his friends. That’s not how it happened.”
As for while she chose to move on with someone in the friend group?
“It was somebody that I felt like I knew and in our world,” she added. “It’s so crazy because, like, how do you trust people? And I was single for the first time in L.A.”
“I don’t think I would have been bothered by it if it was somebody else that I didn’t know,” he told Bravo’s Hot Mic Nov. 14. “I want her to meet somebody, just not somebody I know.”
He also recounted finding out Brittany was sending Julian naked photos, adding, “I caught her in a couple of lies.”
Brittany’s repsonse?
“I pray that one day he completely knocks this addiction, but I’m skeptical,” she said in a statement at the time. “His behaviors are still alarming and his treatment plan seems to be the bare minimum. I’m trying to navigate this as best as I can for my son and I, but every day is still a challenge and very difficult. Jax has caused an enormous amount of damage and I have very little trust in him at this point. My only hope is that one day, he will be a better person for his son.”
“She has someone in her life that’s really amazing that I am head over heels for,” The Valley star Kristen Doute told People. “She’s dated people during her single years since her ex-husband, and I have not approved of them. They’ve been fine, but not wonderful. This person is very wonderful and very cool. Very family-feeling.”
Kristen also shared that Brittany’s new man is also a parent, which provides their relationship with even more welcome commonality.
“He’s a dad, so it makes it really easy,” she explained, “a lot easier and understandable.”
