Jelly Roll ended his public silence about his divorce from Bunnie Xo during a June 18 concert in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., telling fans that “the internet is a liar, too” while insisting “nobody cheated on nobody.” The filing was submitted May 18 and the couple
When Jelly Roll walked offstage after his June 18 show in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., the message he delivered to the crowd lingered: this wasn’t a debate he was willing to have in public for long.
On Thursday night. the “Son of a Sinner” singer—whose real name is Jason DeFord—stopped the concert to address the divorce news that has dominated headlines since it broke Monday. June 15. He said he “wasn’t gonna talk about this tonight. ” then pivoted quickly to what he framed as misinformation spreading online.
“While we’re talking about liars, the internet is a liar, too,” Jelly Roll said onstage, adding, “It’s the only time and the only city I’m going to speak about this, so break your camera phones out now.”
Jelly Roll’s comments come after court records reviewed from documents show that he filed for divorce from his wife, Bunnie Xo—real name Alisa DeFord—on May 18, nearly a decade after they married. The same records indicate the couple separated on May 9.
In the moments that followed, Jelly Roll described their relationship in blunt terms, calling their bond something he said would outlast the breakup.
“Me and my wife are best friends,” he told the audience. “We will always be best friends. We just got off the phone earlier today.”
He then rejected cheating rumors outright. telling fans. “Nobody cheated on nobody.” He said Bunnie had “just did a whole podcast about it” and that “every word of it is the truth. ” before concluding: “That will be my best friend forever. This is the only time I will ever speak about it. Bunnie, I love you, baby.”.
The singer, 41, closed with gratitude tied to the life they shared: “Thank you for those 10 years. They were incredible. Thank you for the next 10 years of friendship and 20 beyond that.”
Even as Jelly Roll made his stance clear, his remarks pointed back to what Bunnie Xo had already said publicly. In a June 18 episode of her “Dumb Blonde” podcast, Bunnie, 46, spoke in similarly affectionate language while describing how they were moving forward.
She said she and her husband are “still having a baby together” as planned through in vitro fertilization as they settle their divorce. Bunnie described the pair as “the most unconventional couple” and added that they plan to co-parent.
“So, we have been the most unconventional couple that you guys have ever encountered,” she said on her podcast. “We’re going to co-parent together. J is my best friend. Like, this isn’t what you guys think this is. Nobody cheated on the other person. It’s literally just we served our purpose for each other.”.
The sequence of their statements—court filing on May 18, separation on May 9, and then back-to-back public messaging on June 18—places their dispute in the open, even as both insisted on the same essential point: no betrayal, just a split framed as something else.
By the time Jelly Roll spoke at his Saratoga Springs concert, he had also made a clear boundary about how long he would stay in the spotlight. He said the June 18 stop was “the only time” he would address it, and he left the crowd with a final note of affection toward Bunnie.
For now, the divorce is moving forward through the filing and the couple’s stated plan to co-parent, with both partners describing their relationship as lasting friendship rather than a clean break—while pushing back on the claims that helped ignite the public attention in the first place.
Jelly Roll Bunnie Xo Jason DeFord Alisa DeFord divorce Saratoga Springs Dumb Blonde podcast in vitro fertilization co-parenting Son of a Sinner