Kristen Bell and Brian Cox are among the actors shocked by their association with the Fox News podcast Brian Cox

A Fox News Channel announcement of a new podcast series about Jesus Christ has turned into a bizarre Hollywood holiday story, with several actors attached to a massive 52-episode project claiming their recordings are 15 years old and being released without their prior knowledge.

The new audiobook, titled The Life of Jesus Christ Podcast, was announced Wednesday as part of a splashy rollout of the network’s new Christian column called Fox Faith, which aims to guide listeners “through the life, teachings and miracles of Jesus Christ,” with each episode introduced by Fox & Friends co-host Ainsley Earhardt.

The announcement boasted that more than 100 actors had signed on to star in the project, with a voice cast that includes Kristen Bell as Mary Magdalene, Sean Astin as Matthew, Neal McDonough as Jesus, Brian Cox as the Voice of God, Malcolm McDowell as Caiaphas, John Rhys-Davies as the Narrator, and Julia Ormond as Mary.

But reps for Bell claim the actress was surprised by the announcement, as she recorded the audio 15 years ago. She only learned that Fox was planning to release a podcast with her name attached the day before the announcement, when her team received an invitation to appear on Fox & Friends the next day, her reps told Rolling Stone. Her team added that she never gave permission for the original audio book – the drama audio bible Truth and Life, It was released in 2010 and was acquired by Fox News Media via a licensing deal with a company called Gulfstream Studios – to be repurposed into a new podcast.

Reps for Cox, McDowell and Rhys-Davies confirmed to Rolling Stone that they were similarly shocked by the news, with some only learning of the new podcast as news of Bell’s confusion broke on Thursday. “Brian recorded audio for a project more than a decade ago,” a representative for Cox said in a statement. “He was not aware that the audio would be reused in a new podcast series in 2025. Brian only learned about the podcast today.”

A McDowell spokesman said the team “figured it out when everyone else found out. We were never consulted, nothing was renegotiated, and we would never have agreed to this.” A rep for Rhys-Davies said the actor learned about the “repurposed” project earlier this week.

Rolling Stone also obtained a note from one of the producers associated with the new podcast at Fox, who asked one of the celebrity cast members, “Not to mention, this New Testament audio Bible was produced years ago, and we’d like it to sound like something that was produced more recently.” According to the magazine, Fox News has repurposed the 15-year-old, 23-hour audiobook into a multi-part podcast series with new additions from Earhardt.

While some of the actors who allegedly participated in the new podcast spoke openly about their Christian faith, others criticized Fox News or the Trump administration it is closely associated with. Cox had previously referred to the right-wing news network as “Satan.”

“Gulfstream Studios produced the Life of Jesus Bible Drama Truth and Life podcast, which was licensed by Fox News Audio, with the full cooperation and participation of all actors involved,” a Fox News spokesperson told Rolling Stone.

The new podcast is part of a larger push by Fox News Media toward Christian-themed programming, as it tries to attract more subscribers to its Fox Nation subscription service. “I think there is an insatiable appetite among a very passionate audience that is underserved,” Jason Klarman, chief digital marketing officer at Fox News Media, told Variety this week. Earhardt previously helped launch Fox Nation with a Bible study program.

The Life of Jesus Christ podcast is scheduled to launch on November 30 associated with the Christian calendar, with 13-episode installments dropping at the beginning of Advent, during Christmas week, the beginning of Lent and Palm Sunday.