Jelly Roll Was Once Sued By Waffle House Over His Mixtape “Whiskey, Weed & Waffle House”

I mean, this sounds like it should have been an advertisement for Waffle House…

These days Jelly Roll is one of the hottest country stars on the planet. He won the CMA Award for New Artist of the Year, he was nominated for two Grammy Awards, he has multiple #1 singles off his debut country album Whitsitt Chapel…it seems these days everybody wants a piece of Jelly Roll.

But back in 2013, apparently Waffle House didn’t want anything to do with his music. In fact, they even threatened to take him to court over it.

At that time, Jelly Roll (whose real name is Jason DeFord) was an underground rapper and had just dropped a mixtape called Whiskey, Weed and Waffle House.

I don’t really see the problem. Those three things go together like…well, like whiskey, weed and Waffle House. Have you ever been to a Waffle House sober? I know I haven’t.

But anyway, apparently Waffle House wasn’t exactly a fan of the song – or more specifically, his use of their logo on the cover of the mixtape.

As the singer recalled in a radio interview a couple of years ago:

“I dropped a mixtape called Whiskey, Weed and Waffle House…

I used the Waffle House logo on the CD cover for the mixtape, and that’s a big no-no. That’s called trademark infringement. I didn’t know this at the time. And they sent me a cease and desist letter and they froze my YouTube channel up and they threatened to sue me. It was kind of a big debacle.”

Yikes…

Although at first, it seems that Jelly Roll was just happy that he was big enough to get Waffle House’s attention. He told Gawker in an interview at the time:

“I was calling everybody, like, We’re popular! Waffle House is trying to sue us!”

He even posted on Facebook at the time that he was “making history.”

And he joked that he should be the one suing Waffle House after eating there so much:

“Hell, I had to look at my birth certificate the other day to make sure I wasn’t born in a Waffle House…

I’m 450 pounds – I should have sued Waffle House 10 years ago! Do you know how many All-Star Breakfasts I bought in my life? I might’ve stopped at 330!”

But for their part, Waffle House wasn’t amused. A spokesman said at the time:

“There is at least some distinction between an artist referencing ‘Waffle House’ in a song, parody or other work, and someone who infringes on our trademarks without our consent.

Jelly Roll’s use of those trademarks was one of the more flagrant violations we have seen, and actions were taken to protect owner’s rights.”

Of course, he eventually realized the gravity of the situation, and ultimately settled the case for $10,000 – after printing approximately 10,000 of the mixtapes to give out for free.

He also changed the name of the album to Whiskey, Weed and Women, though he did slap a big “Cease & Desist” logo on the cover for good measure.

And did the whole experience turn Jelly Roll off from eating at Waffle House?

Of course not:

“The worst part of it is I never lost my love for that place. I still go.”

Although at the time he was a little annoyed, because as he put it, “whiskey, weed and Waffle House” is pretty much the restaurant’s entire brand:

“Have you all ever went into a Waffle House after 8pm? It looks like an old pregnant woman strip club that sells hash browns! Dude, ya hire cooks without teeth!

And then, like, me putting a little pot leaf beside their logo—that’s the worst you’ve ever looked? If we piss-tested everybody who went to Waffle House on drugs and wouldn’t let them inside, they’d be out of business!”

He’s got a point…