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Kristen Bell and Other Actors Break Silence After Backlash Over Fox News Religious Podcast
Several well-known actors, including Kristen Bell, Malcolm McDowell, and John Rhys-Davies, have broken their silence amidst the controversy surrounding Fox News’ The Life of Jesus podcast.
According to representatives of the stars, many performers had no knowledge that their voices were being used for the upcoming podcast, with some claiming that the recordings actually came from a separate biblical project that was completed 15 years ago. Netizens remain split on the matter.
Highlights
- Multiple actors said they had no idea their voices would appear in a Fox News biblical podcast.
- Representatives claimed audio recorded 15 years ago was being reused without new consent.
- Fox News has stated that the project was licensed “with full cooperation and participation” from everyone involved.
RELATED:
As it turns out, Fox News’ The Life of Jesus podcast uses repurposed audio from a biblical project way back in 2010
Image credits: Instagram/kristenanniebell
On Wednesday, Fox News promoted a star-studded voice cast, including Kristen Bell as Mary Magdalene, Malcolm McDowell as Caiaphas, Neal McDonough as Jesus, and Brian Cox as God, for a 52-episode biblical podcast series called The Life of Jesus.
The podcast is produced by Gulfstream Studios, and it is expected to launch under the network’s Fox Faith vertical. Each episode of the series will be complete with introductions from Fox & Friends host Ainsley Earhardt.
Image credits: Fox News
Social media erupted, with many critics slamming stars like Bell for participating in a religious project. Soon, representatives for multiple actors stepped forward with shocking messages: their clients didn’t even know about The Life of Jesus podcast.
According to Entertainment Weekly, the actors involved said they “had no knowledge” of the podcast and only learned of it this week.
Image credits: Getty/Michael Buckner
Confusion deepened when it became clear that the project relied heavily on audio originally recorded for a completely different production, the 2010 Truth & Life Dramatized Audio Bible.
Several actors said they were unaware their voices would appear in Fox News’ new biblical podcast
A representative for Malcolm McDowell told EW that the Clockwork Orange star did record audio for a biblical project, but that was 15 years ago.
“We had no knowledge these recordings were being redistributed as a podcast until this week,” the representative said. “This was long ago forgotten about.”
Image credits: Getty/Daniele Venturelli
Kristen Bell’s team also said she had been unaware of the situation until Fox News asked her to promote the podcast the day before the announcement.
Her representative stressed that Bell never granted permission for her old audio to be reused. “This is the actual and factual story,” Bell’s representatives told EW.
Image credits: Getty/Axelle/Bauer-Griffin
Even veteran performers like John Rhys-Davies and Brian Cox were reportedly caught off guard. Rolling Stone reported that Rhys-Davies learned of the project only this week, while Deadline confirmed that Cox also had no prior awareness of his involvement in Fox‘s 2025 biblical podcast series.
Numerous netizens stood behind the actors, with many stating that they deserve to have control over their voices.
Image credits: Getty/Leon Bennett
“These are professionals, and they deserve to have control over their voices. Unless their original contract specified their performance could be used again, this is akin to theft.
“It’s amazing that a network-sponsored program would do such a thing!” one commenter wrote.
Others, however, were not as supportive of the actors’ plight. “Everyone saying that the voice actors are going to sue. Did you notice that none of the actors or their representatives have said anything about suing?
“These types of contracts include language allowing the owner to resell and repurpose the audio for other similar projects. That is what happened here,” argued another.
Image credits: Instagram/kristenanniebell
Questions soon emerged over licensing, transparency, and an alleged request to hide the audio’s age
Image credits: NBC
As the backlash grew, Fox News maintained that everything was above board. A spokesperson shared a comment to Entertainment Weekly.
“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 spokesperson said.
Image credits: Instagram/seanastin/kristenanniebell/neal_mcdonough
A rather unsettling detail also emerged amidst reports of the controversial podcast. A producer allegedly emailed at least one actor asking that they “not mention that this audio New Testament Bible was produced years ago.”
The producer reportedly stated that “we’d like it to feel like something that was produced more recently.”
Image credits: Instagram/kristenanniebell
The resurfaced cast list included Kristen Bell, Malcolm McDowell, Neal McDonough, John Rhys-Davies, Brian Cox, Julia Ormond, Sean Astin, Michael York, and Stacy Keach, all of whom originally performed their roles for the Truth & Life audio bible.
The only exception was Hill Harper, who did not appear in the earlier project but was listed in Fox News’ announcement for the biblical podcast.
Netizens shared their thoughts about the actors’ comments about Fox News’ upcoming biblical podcast
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