The other women left devastated by Jelly Roll's divorce... why his daughter is now 'disgusted'... and Bunnie XO's one red-line demand before she would agree to the split

News of country star Jelly Roll's decision to divorce his wife of nearly ten years, Bunnie XO, sent shockwaves through the Nashville music scene this week.

But it has surely been felt most sorely in their complicated blended family, which includes Jelly Roll's teenage daughter and young son, each from previous relationships.

As one source tells the Daily Mail, Bunnie's relationship with her stepdaughter, 18-year-old Bailee Ann DeFord, became a particular sticking point when it came to working out the fine print of this divorce.

Bunnie feels 'spiritually tied' to Bailee, the source said, so when it came time to accept the split from Jelly Roll, she wanted to make sure her stepdaughter's life wouldn't be uprooted once again.

'[Bunnie] is spiritually tied to his daughter,' the source said. 'She waited to graduate [Bailee] from high school and get her off to college.'

It was revealed Monday that Jelly Roll, real name Jason DeFord, had filed for divorce from former escort Bunnie XO, née Alisa DeFord, last month in Tennessee, according to court documents obtained by the Daily Mail.

The news caught fans and industry insiders by surprise, and not least because the couple had endured just about every obstacle in their marriage. 

From battling various drug addictions, to infidelity and a custody battle over Jelly Roll's daughter, Bunnie had been by her husband's side as he grew from broke and sleeping in his van to winning three Grammy Awards. 

The OnlyFans star turned podcaster, who once made her living as a 'high-class' escort in Las Vegas, even took on the role of mother figure to Bailee, and stepped up for his nine-year-old son, Noah, too.

Bailee broke her silence on Tuesday, sharing how 'disgusted' she was by all the attention her parents' divorce has received, and that the split was 'very clearly a private matter', though she thanked fans for 'showing me so much love and kindness through everything'.

'At the end of the day, no matter what, we are all humans with feelings and that is worthy of compassion,' Bailee added.

Ever since Jelly Roll and Bunnie were married in August 2016, the former sex worker has played an active role in Bailee's life.

Jelly Roll first learned he was a father inside a Tennessee jail after he was convicted of dealing drugs in 2008. He had previously met his daughter's mother, Felicia Beckwith, at a mutual friend's party and she became pregnant.

From that point on, Jelly Roll professed that his daughter had 'changed [his] life' and he was dedicating towards becoming a better person for her.

But he didn't meet Bailee until she was two years old.

At the time, she was living with her mother in Tennessee and Jelly Roll was struggling to make a real impact in the music industry. He was also on probation and sleeping in the back of his touring van.

In the 2023 documentary 'Jelly Roll: Save Me,' the rapper-turned-country artist described himself as a 'less than present father' during the first few years of Bailee's life. He said that Beckwith initially 'made it hard on me' because she 'made me go to court' to even see their daughter.

But as Bailee grew older, her biological mother's issues with addiction worsened. 

Jelly Roll explained in the documentary that Beckwith suffered from fibromyalgia and had been taking pills to deal with the pain. He said she soon became addicted to pills, which led to a heroin addiction.

By the time Bailee was seven, Jelly Roll said her mother 'started really going downhill' and he made it his mission to gain full custody of his daughter, with the help of his wife Bunnie.

Bunnie, who had been working as an escort making upwards of $100,000 a night, helped Jelly Roll rent a condo for his daughter. She also helped him obtain a lawyer, and he was awarded primary custody of Bailee in 2016.

Still, certain biting comments on social media have hinted at a rocky relationship between Jelly Roll and his daughter's biological mother.

In a Facebook post from October 2017, Beckwith reposted a throwback photo of a two-year-old Bailee, writing above the image: 'MY SWEET BABYGIRL!!! MOMMY LOVES U SO MUCH BAILEE ANN!!! WISH U COULDVE STAYED THIS LITTLE FOREVER LOL!!!'

But in the comments section, it appeared that Jelly Roll had taken over his wife's Facebook account and left a scathing comment under the photo.

'You sure don't act like someone who misses her maybe we should post the screen shot of the 30 unanswered messages under this post, this s*** is a f***ing joke please stop before you dig the hole any deeper. Wow - this is J by the way,' the comment read.

Over the next three years, however, it seemed the co-parents had put in considerable work to better their relationship.

Just two days shy of Bailee's 12th birthday, her mother – who was now sober, released from jail and living in recovery housing – reached out in May 2020. They rekindled their relationship, Bailee later revealed, with her father's full support.

Two months later, Jelly Roll posted a Facebook photo of himself alongside Bunnie, Bailee and Beckwith, all standing in front of oversized balloons that spelled out his daughter's name.

In the caption, he revealed that Beckwith was 16 months sober after quitting pills and drugs following her recent arrest. He said that it 'feels good to have her back to the normal Felicia we all know and love,' and praised his wife for inviting Bailee's biological mother to be a guest on her podcast.

'Bunnie is a special person who has a beautiful soul. I am a blessed man,' he said.

Unfortunately, Beckwith's sobriety didn't last long. While speaking to lawmakers in Washington, DC, in 2024 about his experience with the fentanyl crisis, Jelly Roll implied in his speech that Beckwith had relapsed.

'Every single day I have to wonder, me and my wife, if today will be the day I have to tell my daughter that her mother became a part of the national statistic,' he said.

As for Bailee, she shared the dark details of her mother's relapse during an appearance on Bunnie's Dumb Blonde podcast that same year. 

Back in 2022, a then-14-year-old Bailee had gone to spend the summer with her mother. While Beckwith wasn't partaking in her typical drug use, Bailee explained that her mom had been drinking alcohol on occasion. 

And that summer, Beckwith provided her underage daughter with alcohol and marijuana and actively encouraged Bailee to participate in both.

Even worse, Bailee said that her mother 'manipulated me and convinced me to do' an unnamed drug with her at an 'empty Dollar General parking lot' after a Fourth of July party.

Over the next few months, Bailee said she was 'never sober' and was consistently drinking, vaping, 'or snorting Valiums or Xanax,' without Jelly Roll or Bunnie's knowledge. 

It wasn't until she returned to their Nashville home that her parents realized something was wrong, and helped their teen daughter get sober. 

She also cut off all contact with her biological mother during this time.

Last year, Beckwith was one of three people arrested on drug charges after police found methamphetamine and fentanyl during a traffic stop in Johnson City, Tennessee.

On Wednesday this week, she was sentenced to 30 days in jail and three years supervised probation, a Washington County court clerk told the Daily Mail.

But despite Bailee's rocky relationship with her birth mother, she found stability in Bunnie.

Their close relationship is evidenced on TikTok, where Bailee has shared several amusing videos of the pair dancing in their living room and making videos in the kitchen.

On Instagram, Bailee has called the retired OnlyFans star her 'best friend' and 'the most gorgeous woman I know,' and declared how her 'life changed forever, for the better' when her father and stepmother gained primary custody. 

'Mom, I love you more than anything in this life and ever will,' Bailee once wrote in a gushing birthday tribute. 'Thank you for being everything I ever needed. Thank you for everything. Happy birthday mama, Iove you so much.'

But Bunnie isn't the only maternal figure that Jelly Roll's daughter has had in her life.

Although Bailee no longer lives with her biological mother, she did develop a close friendship with Cheyenne Murphy, Beckwith's ex-girlfriend of several years.

According to posts on social media, Murphy, who also lives in Tennessee, was on and off with Bailee's mother for many years and had a part in raising Bailee since she was a small child.

Their relationship is seen on Instagram and Facebook, where Murphy posts birthday tributes and selfies with Jelly Roll's daughter. Other videos have shown Bailee and Murphy attending Jelly Roll's concerts together, and celebrating milestones such as Bailee's prom night.

A video posted by Bunnie in December 2025 also appeared to show Murphy helping out on the family's farm by wrangling cows in their front yard, though she is listed on her Facebook account as working at Pioneer Coach & Production Transport in Nashville.

Following news of their divorce, however, Murphy made a point to tell her Facebook followers that she had no insight to share about Jelly Roll and Bunnie's relationship.

'Don't ask I don't have answers, and if I did it's NOT my place to speak on! BE RESPECTFUL PEOPLE!!!' the post read.

While Jelly Roll's daughter has been in the public eye throughout his rise to country music fame, his younger son Noah has been kept far from the spotlight.

In August 2016, the same month he tied the knot with Bunnie, the country star welcomed a baby boy with his on-again, off-again girlfriend of ten years, Melisa Cowell.

Although Jelly Roll had recently gained primary custody of his daughter when Noah was born, court documents obtained by the Daily Mail revealed that he and Cowell share custody of their son.

Following his birth, Cowell was automatically given full legal and physical custody of Noah per Tennessee law.

In October 2016, Jelly Roll was ordered by the court to pay temporary child support of $1,250 per month. A parenting plan dated March 2017 showed that Cowell is responsible for their son 282 days of the year, while Jelly Roll has Noah 83 days of the year. In that same document, Jelly Roll's child support was increased to $1,354 per month.

However, it is unclear whether the exes' custody arrangement has changed since Jelly Roll's rise to fame, considering no documents have been made public since 2022.

Unlike Bailee's biological mother, Cowell plays an active role in Noah's life such that any social media post featuring her son must be approved by her first.

That includes a sweet TikTok video shared by Bunnie in July 2023, in which Noah was asked by his stepmother to list some of his favorite things.

Jelly Roll revealed that he tries 'not to get in the way of what [Cowell] is building over there' because he wants to 'just respect that boundary,' though he was most recently seen sitting courtside with his son at a college basketball game in December.

As for Bunnie's relationship with Cowell, she has publicly praised her as 'one stand up chick' and they 'couldn't imagine our lives without her.'

'It takes a village to raise these babies & luckily we have her as a part of the family,' Bunnie said. 'Love you girl!'

Despite the active maternal role Bunnie has played in the lives of Jelly Roll's children, the former sex worker has long desired biological children of her own. Before he filed for divorce, the estranged couple were even working towards welcoming twins via a surrogate.

Bunnie told fans in 2019 that they had been undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) after discovering that her fallopian tubes are blocked. As recently as February, she revealed in her memoir they had found a surrogate to carry their future baby.

Now, it seems Bunnie's dream to welcome children of her own has been indefinitely put on hold.