Recently, Fox News Media announced that as part of the expansion of their faith-based vertical, Fox Faith, they would be releasing the Life of Jesus Christ Podcast, a serialized retelling beginning on November 30. The cast list boasted several familiar and notable Hollywood names, including Good Place star Kristen Bell.
The only problem? Bell–and the other celebrities–had no idea this was happening.
Per Rolling Stone in a post on X, Bell was “blinded by the announcement saying she recorded the audio for a separate project 15 years ago.”
The podcast, which will have 52 installments, claims to feature ‘over 100 notable actors voicing characters of the Bible,’ including Bell as Mary Magdalene, Succession’s Brian Cox as the voice of God, and Band of Brothers’s Neal McDonough as Jesus.
Cox also was unaware of his involvement in the podcast. According to sources, the lines used were recorded more than a decade ago for a different project, a 23-hour dramatic retelling of the New Testament. However, because the company that recorded those lines has since been bought out and licensed, Fox was able to take much of those existing lines and repurpose them.
Actors John Rhys-Davies and Malcolm McDowell also stated they had no idea of their involvement. Bell and Cox’s representatives confirmed that they only found out about the project when reached out to appear on Fox & Friends to discuss it.
Unfortunately, this is not surprising behavior coming from Fox. While there is a gray line regarding IP and free use, there should be a clear demarcation that prevents existing audio (or video) from being used without consent, or at the very least from letting companies to falsely advertise.
A Fox News spokesperson stated 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.”
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