Jelly Roll is standing by his jokes after facing criticism for poking fun at President Trump’s weight during his stint as guest host of Jimmy Kimmel Live. The country singer, hosting his fourth and final night filling in for the vacationing Jimmy Kimmel, used his opening monologue to address the growing controversy head on.
The pushback followed comments Jelly Roll made earlier in the week that were widely interpreted as mocking the president. Cable news pundits seized on the remarks, with one commentator accusing him of pulling a “foul-mouthed rant” and suggesting he had changed his tune since praising Trump and the White House’s UFC Freedom 250 event on the South Lawn just weeks earlier.
“What happened, Jelly? Guess Hollywood was calling and you saw a big break and maybe a big check,” the commentator said on air, footage of which was played during the show.
Jelly Roll pushed back firmly on the suggestion that money motivated his jokes. “First of all, I didn’t do this for the check. I’m rich, y’all,” he said, adding that he had praised the UFC card because “Justin Gaethje pulled off one of the biggest upsets in UFC history, y’all,” not because he endorses everything the administration does.
He drew a direct line between hosting the show and his personal politics. “Just because I watched a fig ht on TV doesn’t mean I support everything this administration does,” he said. “Just like hosting Jimmy Kimmel’s show doesn’t mean I have all of Jimmy Kimmel’s politics. Sure, I lean left on some things, but like most folks, I’m pretty down the middle.”
He described himself as “a Christian,” “a country music singer,” “a farmer” and “a bow hunter,” and joked that he planned to go elk hunting the moment the show wrapped, promising to send the program’s vegan producer, Aaron, “her own elk steak.”
Jelly Roll also defended his right to needle the president while still respecting the office, noting he would “always shake the hand of the sitting president of the United States when asked,” in honor of his late father, a Marine Corps veteran.
“A handshake is not an endorsement. A conversation is not an allegiance and a joke is not a political point of view,” he said.
He closed the segment by reflecting on being labeled by both sides.
“It is funny that before this week, everybody thought I was MAGA and now they think I’m some sort of liberal snowflake,” he said. “I guess I’m just not used to people projecting their beliefs onto me.”
