What Led To Garcelle Beauvais And Her Son Jax's Rocky Relationship
Garcelle Beauvais has shared the ups and downs of her life as a single mom ever since joining "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" in 2020. The "Black Girl Missing" star has an adult son, Oliver Saunders, and twin teen sons, Jax and Jaid Nilon, from her past marriages to Daniel Saunders and Mike Nilon, respectively. All three of Beauvais' sons have made cameos on her Bravo reality show, but in Season 12, Jax, then 14, was part of a major storyline after co-star Erika Jayne cursed at him during his mom's 55th birthday party. Beauvais went into mama bear mode and called out Erika Jayne for her inappropriate behavior toward her teen.
But in a bizarre twist, after the episode aired in August 2022, it was Jax who was hit with backlash on social media. He made his Instagram account private, while Beauvais shared a message from her son in which he made it clear that he "did not sign up for this show" or "have anything to do with the show's drama" (per People). On her end, Beauvais posted to the X app (formerly known as Twitter) to tell fans, "I've been raised to be strong, my life has taught me to be strong, but when it comes to my kids it hurts. It's not OK... It's just a TV show, people. Scream at your TV, throw something at your TV, but leave our kids alone."'
Fast forward to Season 13, and the family unity hit a big bump as Beauvais' son called her out for not being there for him when he needed her.
Garcelle Beauvais' son criticized her parenting on-camera
The Season 13 premiere of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills," titled "The Eaglewoman Has Landed," follows Garcelle Beauvais and her sons Jax and Jaid on a beach picnic as she attempts to make "quality time" with them amid her busy work schedule out of town. After Jax tells his mom he wants to have more freedom, she accuses him of not letting her "parent" him.
"I appreciate where you're coming from, that you want to be more of a parent to us, but I needed that two years ago instead of now," Jax explains. "Most of the parenting and teaching me how to live, I had to do all of that by myself." Beauvais is clearly hurt, as she asks her son if he's saying that she hasn't been a mom to him. "Yeah," Jax says, later adding, "My intention isn't to hurt you ... I just think what needs to be said, needs to be said, whether it hurts or not." In a confessional, Beauvais says her son's harsh words have made her feel like a "failure" as a mom.
The single working mom reiterated how hurtful Jax's words were when asked about the scene at BravoCon 2023. "When that scene happened, it was obviously a knife to the heart," Beauvais said in November 2023, per BravoTV.com. "I thought I was doing a good job. Was I perfect? No. But because of that conversation and ongoing conversations Jax and I are in a better place. And I'm glad he did that because I don't know if we would have gotten there."
Garcelle Beauvais admitted it was hard to relive the scene with her son
Garcelle Beauvais has been vocal about how far her relationship with her son Jax Nilon has come since he called her out on the beach. Speaking with Us Weekly in November 2023, she said the two were "still working through" the aftermath of the conversation. "Even the night that the show was airing, I said, 'I'm going to have to relive this again.' And he goes, 'Mom, we're in a better place,'" she shared. "So, we're working through it."
During an appearance on "Watch What Happens Live" just after the game-changing "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" episode aired, Beauvais admitted she needed time to recover from her son's words. "I had to recover when it first happened and then, you know, seeing the clips, I'm recovering again and it's hard," she said. She also revealed when she asked Jax how he felt about the episode coming out, he told her, "Mom we're in such a better place, I love you so much."
"And I was like can you tweet that? Can you tell the world?" Beauvais laughed. She also praised her son Jax for being able to express his feelings at such a young age. "As a child, I would never have not only the words or the bravery to talk to my mom like that," the Bravo star said.