Jax Taylor, 47, is dating their now-formerly shared publicist, Lori Krebs
, a relationship that emerged after
photos of them cozying up in a pool at a Mexican resort
surfaced last month.
Brittany Cartwright addressed the shocking situation at the top of Friday’s ‘When Reality Hits’ podcast
, her first public response to the relationship.
She said, “As of right now, I am focusing on me and the most important thing in my life, which is my beautiful son. And as of right now, I’m just trying to protect my son and my peace, and very soon I will be telling [my story].”
Cartwright also stated, “All I’m going to say about this at this moment is I will be speaking my truth — the truth — on this matter very soon whenever I’m ready.”
Cartwright announced her separation from Taylor in January 2024 and filed for divorce that August.
Sources tell us Jax and Lori grew close as they supported each other through their respective divorces and bonded over raising children with autism.
The photos that sparked headlines were taken during
a larger birthday getaway for Taylor on July 11
in Mexico.
Jax and Lori are seen embracing in the water, standing chest to chest while talking and, at one point, wrapping their arms around each other as they floated together. A witness tells TMZ the PDA went even further than what cameras captured, claiming Jax and Lori were getting close and hugging throughout the day and weren’t trying to hide they were together.
Before the Mexico trip became public, the pair had been spotted together earlier.
TMZ obtained a photo of the duo at a Flanigan’s Seafood Bar and Grill in Boca Raton on May 15, about two months before they were spotted in the pool at a Mexican resort.
Folks who were there tell us Jax and Lori were very low-key and drinking soda as they bellied up to the bar on a Friday night. They seemingly did not want to be recognized.
The relationship shocked many because of Krebs’ professional history with both.
TMZ broke the news Jax was getting close to his and Brittany’s longtime publicist, Lori Krebs, when they shared photos of them cozying up in a pool at a Mexican resort. Brittany fired Lori immediately.
Lori isn’t just some new flame; she’s been the publicist for both Jax and estranged wife Brittany Cartwright for years, through the marriage, through the divorce filing, through all of it.
Sources tell Page Six the photos have left Brittany feeling “betrayed,” and notably, angrier at Lori than at Jax, “she doesn’t expect much from him at this point.”
The reality TV community weighed in quickly on the news.
Taylor, 47, has received major heat from his former castmate Kristen Doute for becoming involved with someone so close to his ex. “Jax is so diabolical,” she told host Andy Cohen during a July 22 appearance on Watch What Happens Live. “Like, of course.” But she had the most scathing words for Krebs, who had been Cartwright’s publicist for over a decade.
“This is Brittany’s trusted paid professional, a friend, basically part of her family for the past decade,” she continued. “It’s so totally deceitful. It’s her publicist. The one person who knows the ins and outs of everything.”
Another castmate had different regrets.
Zack Wickham shared his regrets on being in Krebs’ corner when her and Taylor’s romance first came to light. “I was actually this person’s biggest defender when rumors had come out before,” he shared from the WWHL audience.
Sources offered a timeline of the romance’s development.
“There was never a years-long secret affair, and there was no romantic relationship while Jax and Brittany were together,” a source told E! News. “Their relationship changed only in the last several months, after both had already been separated.”
Lori — who has always maintained a substance-free lifestyle — became an important source of support during Jax’s recovery, helping him as he worked to get his life back on track.
Lori had called Brittany before TMZ published the photos to give her a heads up that the story was coming, but the two haven’t spoken since.
In the viral moment that started this chapter, photos from Hotel Mousai in Puerto Vallarta showed Jax and Lori in an unmistakable embrace in the resort’s infinity pool on his birthday weekend.
They were seen embracing in the water, standing chest to chest while talking and, at one point, wrapping their arms around each other as they floated together.
The images immediately raised questions given Krebs’ decade-long professional relationship with both Jax and Brittany, particularly her role as their publicist during the couple’s marriage and separation.
Lori’s Instagram went dark shortly before the photos surfaced.
The emergence of the images prompted Brittany to end her professional relationship with Krebs immediately, according to outlets including TMZ.
On her podcast, Cartwright said, “It was cracking me up how everyone was going crazy about that picture you posted with our publicist Lori,” She added, “She’s our publicist and [a] very, very good friend of mine so a photo like that, people I know were saying a lot of crap about it, but it really wasn’t that big of a deal.”
On the July 15 episode of her “Untraditionally Lala” podcast, Lala Kent didn’t hide her feelings about the relationship. “These are two bottom feeders,” she said of Taylor and Krebs.
The Cartwright-Taylor separation has remained contentious on other fronts.
The two stars of Bravo’s Vanderpump Rules and The Valley separated after 10 years in February 2024, and Cartwright, 36, filed for divorce in August.
While the former Valley costars are sharing joint legal custody and “responsibility to make decisions relating to health, education, and welfare” of Cruz, Brittany will be caring for the little one more often, with Jax having custody every other weekend, as well as on Wednesday nights.
Brittany has also been candid about the toll the marriage took.
“I get a lot of hate online, like, ‘She knew what she was getting into,’ but I was blinded by love,” Cartwright tells PEOPLE. “Nobody could ever say that I wasn’t madly in love with that man, because I was. The point is that I did leave him, and I’m so much stronger and happier now. If I can help one woman get out of a toxic relationship, then I have won.”
The Valley airs Wednesdays on Bravo.