When a marriage ends, it’s rarely just two people who suffer the consequences. In the case of Jelly Roll and Bunnie Xo’s split, their 18-year-old stepdaughter Bailee is navigating the kind of emotional minefield most teenagers never have to face—and she’s doing it in the public eye.
On Thursday, June 18, during an episode of her“Dumb Blonde”podcast, Bunnie, 46, opened up about the toll the divorce is taking on Bailee. What emerged was a refreshingly honest portrait of a blended family in crisis: an 18-year-old caught between two parents, angry at both of them for different reasons, and desperately asking the internet for basic human decency. Before going live, Bunnie texted Bailee to ask if there was anything she needed defending. The response Bailee gave says everything you need to know about where this family stands right now.
Bailee’s core message, according to Bunnie, was stark: we need more empathy in this world, and people need to stop treating us like we’re not human. Yes, they’re public figures. Yes, the world is invested. But that doesn’t mean they deserve to be torn apart for sport. It’s a call for grace that, frankly, feels radical in an age of pile-ons and discourse. Bunnie understood her stepdaughter’s position and didn’t shy away from the reality of the situation. Bailee is freshly 18, and the one consistent woman in her life—the one who played the disciplining parent while Jelly Roll got to be the fun dad—is now being removed from her daily world. Of course she’s mad. She’s unfollow-and-then-text-the-next-day kind of mad, the complicated anger that only comes from loving someone who’s hurting you.
But here’s what makes Bunnie’s take so striking: she’s not trying to manage Bailee’s emotions or spin the narrative. She’s letting her daughter be furious, even at her.“If she wants to be mad at me for f***ing two years, I’ll deal with it,”she said.“But when she’s ready to come back, I will always be there for her.”That’s not a politician’s answer. That’s not damage control. That’s someone choosing unconditional presence over the comfort of being liked.
The divorce itself was quietly filed about a month before it became public on June 15—nearly 10 years of marriage ending in silence. Jelly Roll, 41, addressed it on stage in New York on Thursday, emphasizing that he and Bunnie remain best friends and that no infidelity was involved. Bunnie, meanwhile, has been shutting down rumors, particularly the false claims that she cheated and is dating Nickelback singer Chad Kroeger. Both have insisted they’re handling this with respect and maturity.
Still, maturity and respect don’t shield an 18-year-old from grief. Bailee made her own position clear on TikTok on Tuesday, June 16, calling out the public’s unhealthy investment in a private family matter. She’s right. There’s a real person behind those headlines—someone just old enough to legally be an adult, but nowhere near ready for the kind of scrutiny she’s facing. The work ahead for this family will be invisible to the rest of us, and maybe that’s the way it should be.
About the Author
Ava Hart
Ava Hart is a contributor to LocalBeat, covering local news and community stories.
