Kristen Bell and Brian Cox among actors shocked they’re attached to Fox News podcast

The Fox News announcement of a new podcast series on Jesus Christ has turned into a bizarre holiday tale in Hollywood, as several actors attached to massive, 52-episode project claim their recordings date back 15 years and are being released without their prior knowledge. The new audiobook titled The Life of Jesus Christ Podcast, announced on Wednesday as part of a splashy rollout for the network’s new Christian vertical called Fox Faith, purports to guide listeners “through the life, teachings, and miracles of Jesus Christ”, with each episode introduced by Fox & Friends co-host Ainsley Earhardt. The announcement boasted that over 100 actors had signed on to participate in the project, with a voice cast including Kristen Bell as Mary Magdalene, Sean Astin as Matthew, Neal McDonough as Jesus, Brian Cox as the Voice of God, Malcolm McDowell as Caiaphas, John Rhys-Davies as the narrator and Julia Ormond as Mary. But reps for Bell claim that the actor was blindsided by the announcement, as she had recorded the audio fifteen years ago. She only learned that Fox planned to release a podcast with her name attached day before the announcement, when her team received an invitation to appear on Fox & Friends the following day, her reps told Rolling Stone. Her team added that she never gave permission for the original audiobook – The Truth and Life Dramatized Audio Bible, released in 2010 and acquired by Fox News Media via a licensing deal with a company called Gulfstream Studios – to be repurposed into a new podcast. Reps for Cox, McDowell and Rhys-Davies confirmed to Rolling Stone that they were similarly shocked by the news, with some only learning of the new podcast as news of Bell’s confusion circulated on Thursday. “Brian recorded audio for a project over a decade ago,” a rep for Cox said in a statement. “He was unaware that the audio would be repurposed for a new podcast series in 2025. Brian only became aware of the podcast today.” A spokesperson for McDowell said that the team “found out about it when everyone else did. We were never consulted, nothing was renegotiated, and we would not have approved”. A rep for Rhys-Davies said the actor learned of the “repurposed” project earlier this week. Rolling Stone also obtained a note from a producer associated with the new podcast at Fox, in which they requested a celebrity cast member “not mention that this audio New Testament Bible was produced years ago, we’d like it to feel like something that was produced more recently”. According to the magazine, Fox News repurposed the 15-year-old, 23-hour audiobook into a multi-part podcast series with new additions from Earhardt. While some actors purportedly involved with the new podcast have spoken openly about their Christian faith, others have been critical of Fox News or the closely associated Trump administration. Cox has previously referred to the rightwing news network as “the devil”. A spokesperson for Fox News told Rolling Stone 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”. The new podcast is part of a larger push by Fox News Media into Christian-themed programming, as it tries to lure more subscribers to its Fox Nation subscription service. “I think there is an insatiable appetite among a very passionate audience that is underserved,” Jason Klarman, the chief digital and marketing officer at Fox News Media, told Variety this week. Earhardt previously helped launch Fox Nation with a Bible study program. The Life of Jesus Christ Podcast is set to launch on 30 November tied to the Christian calendar, with 13-episode installments dropping at the start of the Advent, during Christmas week, the beginning of Lent and Palm Sunday.