Kristen Bell is reportedly featured in an upcoming Fox News podcast series about the Bible, slated to launch soon. However, the actress claims she was never informed about her involvement.
The 45-year-old star of The Good Place discovered her leading role in the Life of Jesus Christ Podcast only when Fox made a public announcement about the series, with its first episode scheduled for November 30.
This religious podcast is set to unfold over 52 episodes, boasting a cast of ‘over 100 notable actors voicing characters of the Bible,’ including Brian Cox from Succession as the voice of God, Bell as Mary Magdalene, and Neal McDonough from Band of Brothers as Jesus.
However, several of these actors have publicly stated they were unaware of their participation in the series, which utilizes their voices to animate ‘stories from the New Testament through immersive storytelling,’ in Fox’s new ‘Fox Faith’ vertical.
Bell and Cox’s representatives have stated that they were completely unaware of the series and had not been approached to participate in it.
For Cox, this news might have been particularly troubling, given his past criticism of the Murdoch-owned network, referring to it as ‘the devil’.
The actors’ representatives clarified that the recordings used for the podcast were originally made over a decade ago for another project, a comprehensive 23-hour dramatization of the New Testament.
The original company responsible for these recordings was later acquired, and its intellectual property was licensed, allowing Fox to repurpose the voice lines for its new 52-episode series.
Bell learned of her unexpected acting involvement when her agent received a request for her to appear on Fox & Friends to discuss the podcast about which she was unaware.
Her agents informed Rolling Stone that she had not consented to the reuse of her voice lines.
Similarly, Cox’s agents mentioned that the 79-year-old actor was not informed about his voice being used, adding: “Brian recorded audio for a project over a decade ago.
“He was unaware that the audio would be repurposed for a new podcast series in 2025. Brian only became aware of the podcast today.”
Actors Malcolm McDowell and John Rhys-Davies have also stated they were uninformed about their voice recordings being reused for the new series, which is hosted by Fox & Friends host Ainsley Earhardt, who provides introductions for each episode.
A Fox News spokesperson explained that ‘Gulfstream Studios produced The Life of Jesus Podcast from The Truth and Life Dramatized Audio Bible, which was licensed by Fox News Audio, with full cooperation and participation by all the actors involved’.