Bunnie Xo Claps Back: Marriage Wasn't the Problem

When Bunnie Xo joked on Friday’s episode of her“Dumb Blonde”podcast that her marriage to Jelly Roll felt like a“10-year bid,”she wasn’t just being funny—she was drawing a line in the sand.

The 46-year-old podcast host (real name Alisa DeFord) spent the June 26 installment pushing back hard against the narrative swirling online that she’d somehow embarrassed Jelly Roll or damaged his reputation.“That’s not me, and that’s completely false,”she told listeners, addressing the rumor head-on that his PR concerns drove the split. It’s a fair point to make. In the months leading up to their separation, Bunnie had been unapologetically herself on her podcast—bold, unfiltered, and uninterested in performing a softer version for anyone’s benefit. But rather than back down, she doubled down, cracking jokes about her own release from the relationship as casually as if she’d served actual prison time.

Here’s what actually went down, according to Bunnie: On Mother’s Day, they argued. She was exhausted. In a moment of frustration, she told him to file for divorce—something she says he’d threatened multiple times before. Jelly (real name Jason Bradley DeFord) actually did it. He submitted the petition in Tennessee on May 18, though the public didn’t learn about it until late June.“Was I blindsided? And was this divorce mutual? No, it was not mutual,”Bunnie explained on the June 18 episode. She’d spoken in anger, and he’d called her bluff.

What’s striking is that Bunnie hasn’t turned bitter. She called him her“best friend”and expressed genuine regret that they didn’t pursue therapy to work things out.“I was riding with this motherfucker till the wheels fell off,”she said, refusing to trash-talk him or trade blame for blame. Instead, she’s defending herself—not against Jelly, but against the gossip, the speculation, the armchair psychologists online who think they understand what went wrong.

By joking about her own release from the relationship, Bunnie wasn’t minimizing the pain. She was taking control of the narrative. She’s not the cautionary tale of a woman who ruined a man’s career or his sobriety. She’s someone who tried, who gave everything, and who’s now moving forward without apology. That’s the real story. And she’s telling it on her own terms.