Jax Taylor is responding to Lance Bass's claim they are no longer in business together.
Bass stated on the latest episode of Daily Popcast that Taylor is "stepping down," from Just Add X, the drink mixer company the two recently launched. Though he didn't cite a specific reason for wanting to cut ties with the Vanderpump Rules star, Bass' decision comes after Stassi Schroeder and Kristen Doute were fired from the Bravo show last week following former cast member Faith Stowers' claims that Stassi and Kristen called the police on her.
However, more than 2,500 people have signed a Change.org petition calling on Bravo to fire Taylor, since he also made inflammatory statements about Stowers, and has a history of problematic comments.
"It's gonna cost him everything," Bass said. "And he's stepping down from Just Add X, which you know, we have to."
Bass continued, "You know, we can't be involved and associated with any of this going down. We have to do the right thing."
However, Jax's side of the story is quite different.
"Last week the Just Add X website had been hacked, showcasing some hateful slurs, which Jax felt horrible about. In an emotional state, Jax had texted Lance and the Just Add X team offering to step down from the company if that was the direction they wanted to take," Jax's rep tells E! News in a statement Monday. "The team immediately followed up with a phone call with Lance and the team reassured and fully supported him."
"It was decided that Jax would continue to stay on the team and that they all had his back given these unpredictable times. The statements from Lance on the podcast today are not only untrue but also extremely confusing and shocking to say the least. Jax is still very much a partner and founder of Just Add X and supports the team and the brand whole-heartedly," the statement continues. "This has been a tough time for everyone involved, especially with the critical state of Brittany's mother in the ICU, their focus has been on that."
On his latest podcast episode, Bass also predicted that Bravo will soon cut ties with Taylor as well.
"He will lose out. Look, I do not see Bravo keeping him," Bass explained. "I have a feeling, soon, it's gonna be done because this will get bigger and bigger."
In addition to discussing Taylor's insulting comments about Ariana Madix's sexuality, Bass and his Daily Popcast co-hosts addressed 90 Day Fiance star Ashley Martson's call for Taylor to be fired after a comment he left on an Instagram post of her and her husband, Jay Smith.
According to a screenshot Martson posted last week, Taylor commented "Your mans nose is the size of his head..." She then took to her Instagram Story to explain why the remark was racist.
Bass revealed he had actually spoken to Taylor about the matter.
"I actually had a conversation with him about this yesterday. And I feel like I'm the only person that he actually heard it from...because he was like, 'I don't understand this big nose thing,'" Bass recalled. "He goes, 'Jewish people have big noses!' Well yeah, you can't make fun of Jewish people or Black people for their nose."
When it comes to Kristen and Stassi—along with Max Boyens and Brett Caprioni—being fired (Kristen and Stassi both posted lengthy apologies to Faith on social media last week), Bass said "it's so necessary to teach a lesson right now."
"People have been complaining about some of these characters—especially the two new guys—for their racial things before they even started the show," he expressed.
Bass also made a statement directed at Andy Cohen. "Andy, you're the face of Bravo, dude. You can make a lot of things happen," Bass said. "And if you can't make it happen, at least make it known in public that, 'Look guys, I talked to Bravo and I don't agree with them. I can't do change. But just letting you know, I hear you.' Again, you gotta fall on the sword and admit that you're wrong."
He continued, "And I love me some Andy-licious, but you know, in this case, it was just not a good retort for all this going down. I mean, he's obviously not homophobic, and he's for Black Lives Matter. I mean, he's doing the right things and he's very vocal about social injustice, which is awesome. But then, you know, this one thing—which, we can't just judge him on one thing—it just wasn't handled right."
Last week, Cohen broke his silence on the controversy, saying, "I will say this about what happened. I absolutely support Bravo's decision, I think it was the right decision. And I want to remind people because I've been getting so many tweets and messages and whatever about Vanderpump Rules and about Southern Charm and other shows. I am not, I don't—I feel like I remind people this all the time—I'm not in charge of programming at Bravo anymore. I am not an Executive Producer of Vanderpump Rules. I don't have anything to do with the show except I love it and that I host the reunions."
(E! and Bravo are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)