Vanderpump Rules, a reality show on Bravo since 2013, is currently filming its eighth season, which will largely focus on the upcoming nuptials between two of its stars: Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright.
The pair, who began dating on the show in 2015, will be wed on June 29 at the Kentucky Castle, in Versailles, Kentucky — Brittany's home state.
However, the pastor that Jax and Brittany have chosen to officiate their wedding, Ryan Dotson, has recently come under fire for some of his anti-trans and anti-gay Facebook statuses.
Flags were first raised about this pastor in a tweet from Terry Stapleton in December 2018 after the couple announced their decision to have Dotson officiate their wedding. From there, a Reddit thread was born, with more screenshots being shared.
@mrjaxtaylor @BNCartwright I don’t understand how you can have this pastor officiate your wedding. Why give people like this a potentially bigger platform to spread messages of hate?! Make smarter and more socially conscious decisions.
But the conversation really heated up after the cast made an appearance in LA's annual Pride Parade this past weekend. Many fans of the show (myself included, oops) took to Twitter to call out the hypocrisy.
there are a lot of reasons to no longer watch #VanderpumpRules like, idk, everyone pretending that Brittany marrying someone who verbally abused her is cool, but I’d say the biggest reason is that this is Jax & Brittany’s pastor & @BravoTV is giving him a platform for the wedding
In a Facebook post from July 2018, Dotson shared a Washington Post article about the Methodist Church appointing a transgender deacon and expressed outrage.
In another post from June 2015, Dotson expressed his disappointment with the Supreme Court ruling to legalize gay marriage in all 50 states.
Viewers of the show are also upset, having noticed that this pastor's views seemingly go against what the show, and Brittany and Jax, have said they stand for.
This is the guy marrying Jax And Brittany. I’m definitely not watching anymore of #PumpRules as long as he’s their priest. He goes against everything I believe in. @BravoTV @Andy
#PumpRules using a bigoted pastor for the Jax and Brittany wedding. Is this the final nail in the coffin? Come on! Your show is based in Weho!
@ariana2525 @ItsMeBillieLee @TomSandoval1 Jax and Brittany just hired a pastor that was (and probably still is) against same-sex marriage rights, I hope you’ll let Jax know that’s not acceptable, especially with VPR’s claim that they are allies to the LGBTQIA+ community
This is disgusting @BravoTV @LisaVanderpump @Andy. https://t.co/yaUW8Kq50M
As an outspoken ally of the LGBT community, @LisaVanderpump should not attend this wedding and @Andy shouldn't air it. https://t.co/YHOQtnhWjF
It also grabbed the attention of Bravo star and chief stew on Below Deck Med Hannah Ferrier, who reacted with vomiting emoji faces.
@kate_mccrea @BravoTV @Andy Really?!?! 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮
When reached, a representative for Lisa Vanderpump told BuzzFeed she "only became aware of this today" and has contacted Jax and Brittany about the matter.
"Of course everyone knows my feelings for the love and unwavering support for the LGBTQ community," Vanderpump said in a statement through her representative.
"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. They are dealing with this today. This attitude is totally not acceptable to them and changes are forthcoming.”
Cartwright was asked about the pastor and his views on an aftershow episode of Watch What Happens Live in January of this year and responded by saying she had talked to the pastor herself and he had assured her he did not hold these beliefs.
"Well, I’m not going to say too much but I will say that I am a huge supporter and always will be of the LGBTQ community and no matter what I would never try to make anyone feel uncomfortable. I talked to him myself and he promised me that he was not that way and he was not saying anything about the community whatsoever and I have known this man for years and if it was anything that I felt otherwise, I would never choose somebody like that.”
However, his Facebook statuses seemingly tell a different story.
