Jax Taylor is Exposed for Posting Fake ‘Smartwater’ Ad as He Explains What Happened and Slams Brittany for “[Mocking]” Him, Plus Brittany Fires Back at His “Ridiculous” Statement From Publicist & Suggests He Used ‘AI’ in Post

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Jax Taylor called out ex Brittany Cartwright for mocking and embarrassing him over a fake partnership with Smartwater on Instagram.

As the brand confirmed that it was not working with the 47-year-old former star of Vanderpump Rules and The Valley, and as Brittany, 37, and Kristen Doute, 43, weighed in on the bogus sponsorship on their Instagram Stories, with Brittany signaling Jax’s romance with publicist Lori Krebs, Jax insisted the mixup was an “honest mistake.”

In a screenshot of Jax’s post shared on Reddit on July 31, Jax was seen in a pool with a bottle of Smartwater beside him.

“It’s been one heck of a hot summer … Staying hydrated with [Smartwater],” Jax wrote in the caption of his post. 

He later added the hashtag “partner” before deleting the post entirely.

After it was confirmed that the sponsorship wasn’t real, Jax released a statement, explaining what had happened and shading Brittany for the way she handled the news.

“A few weeks ago I accepted what I believed was a legitimate campaign opportunity through a third-party influencer platform, as many creators use. I received the offer, emails, creative brief, and deliverables. I trusted a platform that turned out not to be legitimate. As soon as I was notified that the campaign was unauthorized, I removed the content immediately. I have never and would never intentionally misrepresent a partnership,” he wrote.

He then moved on to Brittany, sharing, “What’s been the most upsetting is seeing an honest mistake become pure entertainment in an attempt to humiliate me. My ex-wife chose to publicly mock me and embarrass me instead of handling it privately. Regardless of where we stand personally, we’re still the parents of a young child, and there should be a certain level of respect.”

According to Jax, he’s “stayed quiet for a long time out of respect” for Brittany, even though “so much has been said publicly about [him].”

“What hurts the most is feeling like no matter how hard I work to rebuild my life, move forward or earn new opportunities, there are constant attempts to tear those opportunities away,” he continued. “Brittany has directly contacted networks and brands in an effort to stop me from working and to prevent me from getting opportunities, affecting my ability to earn a living. I never wanted to make any of this public, but there’s only so long I can stay silent when she continues to lie about so many things and doesn’t ever seem to stop.”

Along with his statement, Jax included a series of screenshots, believed to be of his interaction with the third-party influencer company.

In response to Jax’s post, Brittany shared a screenshot of her own after reading a DM from Smartwater, which confirmed it was not linked to Jax, on her podcast. 

“I opened that dm LIVE while recording a podcast. Blame people for their awful actions, not the person who is having to live with it daily. I’m done,” she began.

Then, as she shared what appeared to be the full version of one of Jax’s screenshots, Brittany showcased the top bar, which listed the VideoForce.ai website.

“A couple things purposefully left out of that ridiculous statement clearly written by a ‘publicist,'” Brittany wrote, seemingly accusing Lori of writing Jax’s statement, “I’m the one who REALLY has stayed quiet. Keep blaming me with no accountability for your own actions. Not anymore. They forgot to crop out the “made by AI” in the texts they threatened me with. And now the whole lie to cover it up… please. I speak facts and truth. Always. Leave my son out of your ridiculous statements.”

Brittany even alluded to recent articles that have come out about Jax and Lori, whom she fired soon after she was spotted with her estranged husband, adding, “The countless ‘sources’ and fake accounts is hardly staying quiet.”

Kristen shared the AI-doctored screenshot on her page, as well, writing, “He sent this to someone.. forgot to crop out the AI part,” and including the face with a hand over mouth emoji.

Another message in Kristen’s post pointed out that “the top right corner indicates the user is logged in as ‘JT.'”

As for Smartwater’s statement, that was shared on Reddit.

“Hello. I just saw that you are partnering with Jax Taylor. Please know that this looks awful for your company, as he has a long history of abuse and disgusting [behavior]. This partnership does not reflect well on you,” a user had written.

“Thank you for reaching out. Smartwater has no relationship with Jax Taylor. He is not a brand ambassador, and his content is not authorized by or affiliated with the company,” Smartwater replied.

The Valley season three reunion begins Wednesday, August 5, at 8/7c on Bravo.