Jana Kramer is defending her husband Allan Russell after comments he made last year caused controversy.
Speaking to E! News on Friday, June 6, the One Tree Hill alum insisted that Russell wasn’t being serious when he said he wouldn’t let her film sex scenes with another man.
“He was joking,” Kramer, 41, told the outlet. “There’s a conversation with every [job] we take. It’s the same thing with his line of work.”
The actress continued, “That’s what marriage is — it’s a conversation. It’s not like, ‘No, you cannot do this.’ I don’t think that’s healthy.”
Russell, 44, originally made the comments in December 2024 while discussing an intimate scene between Jamie (Wes Bentley) and Sarah (Dawn Olivieri) featured on Yellowstone season 5.
He admitted on Kramer’s “Whine Down” podcast that he wouldn’t feel comfortable if Kramer took on a role that involved intimate sex scenes.
“I was just like, ‘There’s not part of me that will ever, ever, ever allow that, ever, for a man to be that close to you like that [on set],” he said.
Allan Russell and Jana Kramer. (Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for Boot Barn)
When Russell was asked by Kramer if he would make an exception for a show such as Yellowstone, Russell still wasn’t backing down when it came to his opinion.
“I’ll be, like, phoning the producers and threatening the producers [like], ‘You need to change that scene. For the good of your health, you need to change this scene,’” he stated.
Russell also said on the podcast that he didn’t think actors filming sex scenes was “healthy for any relationship.”
He added: “That’s not good for a marriage, that type of role, it’s not, especially [for] a man who’s not in the acting world. It’s difficult. So, therefore, that’s my opinion based on [the fact that] I’m not in that world.”
However, the following week Russell appeared on the “Whine Down” podcast again to clarify his comments.
“If the opportunity is good for your career, then it’s clearly a marital discussion,” he explained. “And listen, if you feel it’s good for your career, then I’m never gonna hold you back from doing something. You know that.”
Kramer and Russell announced their engagement in May 2023 — six months after they started dating. The couple welcomed their first child together, a son named Roman, in November that same year and tied the knot in July 2024. Kramer also shares two kids: Jolie, 9, and Jace, 6, with her ex-husband Mike Caussin.
