Brittany's Mom Predicted Jax's Business Would Lead to Breakup: "Open a Bar, Get a Divorce"
Months before Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright announced their separation, her mother, Sherri, expressed concern that the bar business would be difficult on their marriage.
First comes love, then comes marriage ... then comes in-laws.
Jax Taylor, who joins wife Brittany Cartwright on new Bravo series The Valley, premiering March 19, has often found his mother-in-law, Sherri Cartwright, to be a source of support, but when Jax decided to open a bar, she was not happy about it.
Sherri, who lives in Kentucky where Brittany grew up, has happily stepped up to help out with the couple’s now 3-year-old son, Cruz. She’s given Jax the benefit of the doubt at times, but this specific professional venture of Jax's, which has drawn the former Vanderpump Rules star back into the bar business, isn't one she was immediately on board with, she said. In fact, it led her to become concerned about divorce — a fear that, it seems, was reasonable.
Brittany’s Mom Thought Jax Opening a Bar Would Lead to Divorce
In September 2023, Jax finally realized the dream of opening a sports bar alongside his wife, Brittany. Called Jax’s Studio City and based in the L.A., it’s an easygoing place for burgers, booze, big fun, and more.
While the establishment was still in the works, Sherri, who was in California visiting the couple, was a guest on the podcast When Reality Hits with Jax and Brittany. In a wide-ranging conversation about childhood memories and relationships that took place in August 2023, the topic of the bar came up.
Jax acknowledged that he was “super excited” about the bar, but then Brittany asked her mom how she felt about the new enterprise when she first heard about it, Sherri didn’t hold back.
“I didn’t like it,” she said, adding that Jax had told her years before “open a bar, get a divorce.” The prospect of her daughter facing that consequence was a big turn-off.
“I was not happy with it,” Sherri doubled-down.
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What happened with Jax and Brittany?
It turns out Sherri's concerns were somewhat valid, as Jax and Brittany would go on to announce they were separating in February 2024, about six months after this podcast conversation.
"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," Brittany explained on a February episode of When Reality Hits with Jax and Brittany. "I won’t get into too many details right now because this is still very hard to talk about and I’m taking things one day at a time ... I don’t know what the future holds, but right now, my focus is on being the best mom to Cruz. I love you guys. Pray for us. And everything will be just fine."
Of course, neither have pointed to the bar as the reason behind their split, but Sherri certainly had reason to be concerned about the marriage, it seems.
Jax, who admitted to Sherri during that podcast episode that the hospitality business is tough on marriages, deftly went into damage-control mode at the time. He reassured Sherri on the podcast that Brittany wouldn’t become a neglected bar widow.
“Here’s the difference. My wife is 100% involved in this bar just as much as I am,” he told Sherri and the podcast audience. (Brittany was behind the festive and playful look of the place.)
“So everything that I’m doing, she’s doing,” Jax said. “Every dollar that I make she makes. It’s 50/50 ... She’s going to be there for events. I'm going to be there for events. We only live 10 minutes away. It's really easy, but we're definitely not going to be married to it.”
Brittany echoed that sentiment: “That’s right. We’re doing this together, baby — a family affair.”
Brittany then asked her mother if she felt better about the bar after that.
“A little, maybe,” said Sherri. “I’m gonna keep very close tabs on Jax to see how he's doing with this process."
It's unclear what Sherri thinks now that Jax and Brittany have announced their split — or if the bar contributed to it all. Most recently, Jax and Brittany have claimed they are still friendly and are trying to work on their relationship.
“We are co-parenting; we’re doing the best that we can; we’re just trying to figure some things out right now,” said Brittany on the most recent episode of When Reality Hits. “It doesn’t mean we are gonna get divorced or anything like that … things just need to be better. I’ll just say that.”
Jax said that what they were going through wasn’t any strange phenomenon, doubling down on recent statements he posted to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
“You know what, too, I don’t know anybody who’s married who hasn’t gone through what we’re going through right now,” said Jax. “Everybody you know goes through something in their marriage, whether it’s a hiccup or taking a break or whatever, but it’s a normal thing. We’re trying to figure it out, and that’s pretty much where we’re gonna leave it.”
Brittany agreed they didn’t want to get into the nitty gritty on the podcast but thanked followers who supported their continuing journey. She reiterated that the separation was part of their “real lives.”
Find out more about what’s up with Jax and Brittany and their friends when The Valley premieres on March 19.
