He’s called her the “beacon of his life” and Jelly Roll’s wife Bunnie XO is not taking any shit from trolls who tried to bully her husband. While he’s pursued success in the music business, she’s forged a career in another branch of the entertainment industry.
Born as Jason DeFord on December 4, 1984, he adopted the stage name Jelly Roll early in his career. He gained recognition for his raw and honest lyrics, often drawing from his own life experiences, struggles, and triumphs. Jelly Roll has released several albums and mixtapes, collaborating with various artists in the hip-hop scene, expertly blending elements of rap, country, and rock, appealing to a diverse audience.
On April 7, 2024, Jelly Roll took home three trophies at the CMT Awards: Video of the Year for “Need a Favor,” Male Video of the Year and CMT Performance of the Year. But that wasn’t the highlight, according to an interview with Billboard shortly after. “The coolest moment I’ve had this entire process is … when I walked out, they had a placard with my name for where my seat was and then her placard,” Jelly said proudly. “I was like, ‘You’re not a plus-one no more, baby! You’re a seat!’” So sweet. Without further ado, here’s everything we know about Jelly Roll’s wife.
-
Jelly Roll’s wife is Bunnie XO
Image Credit: Photo by Gilbert Flores/Billboard via Getty Images Jelly Roll’s wife is Bunnie XO. They’ve been married since 2016 and she’s fiercely protective of him. On April 23, 2024, she came to his defense against heartless trolls who caused him to quit social media.
During an episode of her podcast Dumb Blonde, Bunnie revealed: “My husband got off the Internet because he is so tired of being bullied about his f—ing weight, and that makes me want to cry, because he is the sweetest angel baby.” She continued: “Don’t bully people, because you never know where they are mentally. There are a lot of people who are not as strong as me, that are on the internet, and they don’t deserve to f—in’ be bullied.”
It came after the rapper revealed he’d lost 70 pounds while training for his first 5k. He told People in February that training was going well. “It’s going really good, man,” Jelly said. “This is the first week in six weeks I haven’t got my miles in just because the Grammys week’s been so rough, but I have been getting in the sauna.”
-
They met in Vegas
Image Credit: Photo by Jeff Kravitz/Getty Images for CMT Jelly Roll and Bunnie XO met in 2015 when she saw him perform at Sin City’s Country Saloon in Las Vegas and their chemistry was instantaneous. “We hit it off. She said she fell in love with the saddest eyes in the room,” the country star said during a Taste of Country Nights interview back in 2022.
“I’m not going to act like I shot my shot. She kind of shot hers. We had mutual friends. She said, ‘Yo. Just plug me in with Jelly.’ And I hit her on some other s–t. I was like, ‘Yo. I’m going to be coming out to shoot some content and video stuff. She was like, ‘Yeah! C’mon!’ I was like, ‘Cool, well I’m living in my van, so I’ll leave now.’”
-
She was on OnlyFans, but not anymore
In March 2024, Bunnie revealed she shut down her OnlyFans account. Some fans were confused as to why she was doing digital sex work during her marriage to Jelly Roll, to which she replied: “A lot of ppl seem to be confused as to how I just retired from SW last year because I’ve been married for 7 years lol.. so here’s the answer,” Bunnie explained in a Facebook post.
“When I married J I refused to give up my independence & rely solely on him,” she shared. “He knew how important it was to me to make my own money. But he did always say, ‘One day baby you won’t have to do this anymore.’”
She continued: “Fast forward to 2018 I started my own brand Bunnie Xo & funded it w/ the money I made in SW. I literally built my entire brand from the ground up without help from anyone- not even my husband. 2020 came around and I retired from seeing clients & having sugar daddies & started my Onlyfans which made me millions. It was crazy the amount of money that site made me in such a short time.”
Bunnie concluded: “Finally in 2022 my business Bunnie Xo started making just as much money – if not more than my SW money. So I couldn’t justify still having that part of my life when the new brand I created was thriving so much.”
“I also didn’t want to be the only wife in the country music scene whose butthole was on the internet. But my husband never once asked me to give up anything in my life. So I decided to retire & 100% immerse myself into the Bunnie Xo brand in 2023. Best decision I ever made. The rest is history baby!”
-
Jelly Roll & Bunnie have custody of his daughter
Image Credit: Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images Jelly Roll has a teenage daughter, Bailee Anne, whom he shares with ex, Felicia. She was born on May 22, 2008. 23 years old at the time, Jelly Roll was incarcerated (serving 8 years for felony drug charges and robbery) when he found out about his daughter’s birth—a moment he refers to as his “road to Damascus.”
Jelly Roll and Bunnie were granted full custody of Bailee in 2017. “It takes a special kind of woman to raise a kid that isn’t her child and still treat the child as if she was. Over the years watching her relationship with Bailee blossom into this beautiful mother-daughter bond that it has become has been nothing short of magical,” he captioned a Facebook photo of Bailee and Bunnie.
“I have truly been blessed with the best partner I could’ve asked for in life. You are the epitome of a good mom and deserve more credit than anyone because you didn’t have to step up to the plate the way you did. You chose to step up and man you have knocked it out of the park. Thank you Mama Bear – we love you.”