Sounds like the divorce is going to be amicable.
Though we haven’t heard from either of them yet, we’re learning more about the sudden and shocking split between Jelly Roll and Bunnie Xo after a decade of marriage.
As first reported by TMZ, Jelly Roll, whose real name is Jason DeFord, filed for divorce from his wife Bunnie Xo, whose real name is Alisa DeFord, back on May 18 in Williamson County Chancery Court, just outside of Nashville.
Neither of the two have publicly addressed the separation, though TMZ reported that it was a “mutual decision” and a “private family matter.”
Whiskey Riff obtained a copy of the divorce complaint that was filed by the “Save Me” singer, which reveals that the couple separated on May 9, a week and a half before the request for a divorce was filed. He cites “irreconcilable differences” as the grounds for the divorce, which in Tennessee is a no-fault grounds for divorce that means that the parties agree on the terms of the separation.
According to the complaint:
“The Husband would respectfully show unto the Court that these parties are unable to live together successfully as Husband and Wife. Plaintiff charges that the parties have suffered irreconcilable differences as would entitle either of them to a divorce. …”
Interestingly, Jelly Roll also asks that Bunnie not be required to answer the complaint as would normally be required in a contested divorce, which would seem to indicate that the two have already worked out the details of their separation like division of property, and will instead be filing a Marital Dissolution Agreement to make the process as quick and easy as possible.
Jelly Roll has hired Rose Palermo, a high-profile divorce attorney to the stars who has represented other celebrities like Kelsea Ballerini, Kristin Cavallari, Conway Twitty, Wynona Judd, and many, many more.
For her part, Bunnie is represented by Neil Campbell of Campbell Perky Johnson, PLLC, a Nashville-based divorce firm.
The couple were married back in 2016 before renewing their vows in 2023, and have been incredibly transparent about their relationship, including their struggles along the way. As Bunnie has discussed in the past, the two separated not long after getting married when she discovered that Jelly Roll was having an affair with an ex of his:
“We got married in 2016. The affair was started with an ex in 2017, and then I think I found out about it early on in 2018.”
During an appearance last year on the Human School Podcast with Miles Adcox, Jelly Roll also opened up on the affair, saying that it led him to question whether he would ever be able to clean up his act:
“I don’t talk about this publicly at all, but one of the worst moments of my adulthood was when I had an affair on my wife. Because it was the first time that I was like, ‘I really can’t get this right at all.’
Like, I know I’m in love with this woman. It was just such a – like it just really, really, really blew me back.”
If you’re not familiar with Bunnie, she’s actually got a pretty incredible story herself. The host of the Dumb Blonde Podcast who’s built up a massive following of her own, she actually started out as a high-end escort in Las Vegas, which is what she was doing when her and Jelly Roll first met.
During an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast a while back, Jelly Roll discussed being homeless when he first met his wife:
“My wife grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada. My wife was a high-end escort her whole life. That’s what she did when I met her.
I was broke. I was living in a 1996 van. Literally. Didn’t have a house. And this woman has like two condos and a few sports cars. She’s f–king BALLING.”
More recently, the couple had been open about their struggles trying to conceive a child through IVF, with hopes of conceiving twins through a surrogate:
“Now that we’re finally stable financially and somewhat emotionally after all the healing we’ve done over this decade together, we’re talking about the future—including growing our family. J and I have a surrogate, the sweetest woman ever, and soon I’ll be starting my IVF stims.”
And last fall, she even clapped back at trolls who questioned why she hadn’t been seen publicly with her husband:
“Somebody said the other day, they’re like, ‘They used to always be together. Now you never see them together. I’m like, do you guys not know for the past six months I’ve been trying to make a baby? Like, my husband has to work to f***ing bring home the bacon.
Luckily, I have the luxury of being able to work from home. So he doesn’t. He has to make appearances. But I literally have been on IVF meds for f***ing six months and going through heartbreak and f***ing so much s***.”
Neither Jelly Roll nor Bunnie have commented on the divorce filing, so we don’t know what happened to lead to the separation. Jelly Roll is currently on the road with Post Malone for his Big Ass Stadium Tour while also headlining his own Little Ass Shed Tour. But before news broke of the divorce, Bunnie shared a video of herself singing along to Nickelback’s “How You Remind Me.”
You hate to see that they’re splitting after everything they’ve been through together, but hopefully they can both find happiness one way or the other.
