‘Vanderpump Rules’ Star Brittany Cartwright Speaks out After Anti-LGBT Wedding Officiant Drew Criticism

Brittany Cartwright and Jax Taylor made a last-minute change to their wedding plans, and addressed the controversy around the special day.

The Vanderpump Rules stars came under fire earlier this week after their wedding officiate’s transphobic and homophobic remarks resurfaced less than a month before they are set to tie the knot.

Back in December, Cartwright and Taylor announced that Ryan Dotson, a local pastor, would marry them at The Kentucky Castle in Versailles, Kentucky. The Kentucky native first addressed backlash on their choice of pastor on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.

In screenshots obtained by BuzzFeed, the pastor previously criticized a church for appointing a transgender deacon and lashed out when the Supreme Court ruled to legalize gay marriage in June 2015.

“I will say that I’m a huge supporter and always will be of the LGBTQ community, and no matter what, I would never try to ever make anybody feel uncomfortable,” Brittany explained at the time. “I talked to him myself and he promised me that he was not that way, that he was not saying anything about the community whatsoever. I’ve known this man for years, and if it was anything that I felt otherwise, I would never choose somebody like that.”

The criticism resurfaced online after the cast of the Bravo reality series shared photos from the 2019 Los Angeles Pride Parade — featured annually on the show — with fans expressing their concern over their choice of pastor again.

Amid the backlash, series star and owner of SUR restaurant Lisa Vanderpump released a statement revealing she had reached out to the couple to make a change.

“I’ve contacted Jax and Brittany who are extremely disappointed as to the depth and seriousness of these comments by the minister and are very shocked and feel that obviously major alterations will have to be made in their ceremonial plans,” the former RHOBH star told Us Weekly. “They are dealing with this today. This attitude is totally not acceptable to them and changes are forthcoming.”

Shortly after, Jax and Brittany took to Twitter to respond to fans, and reveal the proper changes had been made to their plans.

“We already took care of this so I would appreciate it if people would quit trying to spread rumors like we don’t care and aren’t supporters when you guys have no clue how we feel or the fact that we have already changed,” Cartwright wrote in a since-deleted tweet on Wednesday. “I’m focused on marrying the man I love. Nothing else.”

Taylor also confirmed they had change ministers, adding the couple was “unaware” of Dotson’s past Facebook posts.

“He’s always been kind to me, I didn’t know his past that well, I was taught be nice to others, regardless,” Jax replied to a fan. “I don’t agree with his thinking but that doesn’t mean I need to attack the man. Be kind to everyone, isn’t that what we are fighting for. We are human. Remember that.”

Jax added that the couple plans to invite many friends who are members of the LGBTQ community to their special day except for SUR co-worker Billie Lee, who they have had issues with in the past.

“I pretty much invited every gay person I knew, except billy(sic),” he wrote, mistakenly labeling his transgender co-worker. “You can be mad at me all you want for that one I don’t care.”