Jelly Roll became emotional as he reflected on how his 16-year-old daughter Bailee’s life has been impacted by her birth mother’s battle with addiction.
During a recent appearance on “The Pivot” podcast, the 40-year-old country star, who has been candid about his previous arrests and incarcerations for drug dealing, explained why he is now so “passionate” about advocating for victims of the heroin and fentanyl epidemics.
The “Save Me” hitmaker shared that Bailee had struggled after her mother, Felicia Beckwith, was reportedly arrested on felony drug charges earlier this month.
“My child’s mother has struggled with drug addiction since my daughter’s been born, pretty much,” Jelly Roll, whose real name is Jason DeFord, said. “The addict is not the victim in that situation. The family is.”
JELLY ROLL FELT LIKE ‘SCUM OF THE EARTH’ BEFORE DAUGHTER’S BIRTH INSPIRED LIFE CHANGE
“I’ve seen the effect that it’s had on her. I’ve got a 16, almost 17-year-old upstairs, and I’ve seen the effect that it’s had. Like it’s really hurt her too. It’s truly affected her life,” he continued.
Jelly Roll said that he recently learned of Beckwith’s arrest when someone sent him a news article about the incident and advised him to “check on” Bailee.
The singer recalled that he confided in his wife Bunnie XO that he felt guilty that his fame has brought attention to his ex’s struggles and how that has affected Bailee.
“I was like, ‘I’ve invited the world into our living room,'” he remembered telling his wife. “So we’ve just got to accept what comes with that. Like, this is my fault more than anybody’s.”
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Jelly Roll shared that when Bailee learned of her mother’s arrest, it “broke her heart.”
“This is a 16, 17-year-old that knows her mother is a drug addict, but like, her having to see the mugshot of her mother with just meth ate up on her face,” he said, trailing off.
At that point, Jelly Roll admitted that he was becoming “emotional” and began to tear up.
“I watched her go through it all over again. I was like, ‘Ah, man,’ I forgot ’cause I’m like, I’m 40, and I’ve done a lot of therapy, and I’ve done a lot of work and I have a relationship with God that … it hurt me, but I just got to pray about it and move on,” he said while wiping away tears. “But I was like, ‘Ah, man, she’s 16, she don’t have any of those tools. She’s still gaining those tools. This hurts her.'”
The four-time Grammy nominee explained that Bailee had been following the story of her mother’s arrest, but humor was one method that she was using to cope with the situation.
“So we laugh about it,” he said. “It’s just kind of her way of humor-masking. We know it’s humor-masking, but she’s 16. She should be able to, you know, like, let her figure out her own grief, you know? But it was good to see her at least chuckle about it because she had the opposite [reaction] when I first talked about it.”
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“But she’s working through it,” he added.
Jelly Roll and Bunnie XO, who married in 2016, have primary custody of Bailee and the “Wild Ones” singer’s son Noah, 8, from another previous relationship.
Jelly Roll previously said that he was jailed more than 40 times on drug-related charges. The singer was able to overcome his addiction struggles and break the cycle of incarceration. In January 2024, he appeared before Congress and gave powerful testimony on the devastating impact of fentanyl on Americans.
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During an interview with Fox News Digital, Jelly Roll shared that his troubled past and his ability to overcome it had a lasting impact on him.
“I wouldn’t be the man I am today if it wasn’t for what I went through. I think it empowered me. I think it gave me my voice,” he said at the 2023 CMAs. “It taught me a lot about overcoming. It taught me a lot about changing and the ability to change.”
He continued, “I was a horrible human for decades, and to just be able to turn that around and give a message in the music and help people… and just try to give back as much as I can in every way I can is very indicative of where I came from and how important it is to me to always reach back.”
