Podcaster and comedian Joe Rogan recently addressed the viral backlash surrounding country music star Jelly Roll following the singer’s hosting gig on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, where he delivered jokes targeting former President Donald Trump’s weight.
Speaking with guest Ron White on The Joe Rogan Experience, Rogan defended Jelly Roll, suggesting that the singer was led into the political crossfire by late-night television writers and that the backlash from fans was drastically overblown.
The controversy erupted after Jelly Roll delivered a monologue on Kimmel’s show, cracking jokes about his own massive weight loss and comparing his physical frame to Trump’s. During the set, the singer referred to both himself and the former president as “fat pigs” while discussing physical fitness and weight loss.
Rogan initially expressed sympathy for the country star, questioning the intensity of the conservative backlash that called for boycotting Jelly Roll’s music.
“What did they do to Jelly Roll, man? Poor Jelly Roll,” White said. “All he did was say the president was a fat pig like me. That’s what he said.”
Rogan replied, “And then he said, ‘If you’re a Trump supporter, don’t listen to my music.'”
Rogan also made it clear that he has a soft spot for Jelly Roll, describing the country star as a genuinely likable person despite disagreeing with his decision to make the comments.
Rogan said, “I didn’t see what he said. I heard about it. But Jelly Roll is a sweetheart. I wouldn’t have advised him to say that there.”
While discussing how the country star ended up delivering political material, Rogan speculated that Jelly Roll was reading lines written for him by Jimmy Kimmel Live! staff rather than delivering his own original stand-up material.
“Well, he was on the Jimmy Kimmel show, right? So, he was doing a monologue. I don’t even know if he wrote it,” Rogan explained. “You know, it could have been the writers from the Jimmy Kimmel show who are obviously very anti-Trump. Like, or at least Kimmel is very openly anti-Trump. So, you know, they could have just tricked him into doing it.”
After reviewing the actual clip from the broadcast, which included jokes about Jelly Roll losing “an entire Donald Trump” after dropping 300 pounds, Rogan doubled down on his assessment that the singer was simply reading a script provided by the network.
“Did a very good job. But I mean… it’s monologue type standup and clearly someone wrote it and he’s reading it off the teleprompter,” Rogan observed.
“It wasn’t the funniest stuff, but I mean… They wrote that s[]t for him. I guarantee you. 100%. You could tell he was reading it. It wasn’t like he was just speaking off the cuff.”
Despite believing the material was written by others, Rogan noted that taking aim at Trump poses a unique career risk for artists within the country music genre, where a large portion of the fanbase aligns politically with the former president.
“I’m not even saying it’s st[]pid,” Rogan said. “I’m just saying like if you want people to like you, like going after Trump. Especially from his perspective like as a country guy, like that’s a giant chunk of your crowd.”
Rogan added, “I wish he didn’t say that stuff, but I mean it’s just sometimes the juice is not worth the squeeze.”
Upon hearing the exact wording of the monologue, however, Rogan argued that the jokes were relatively mild and didn’t warrant the level of outrage seen on social media platforms like TikTok.
“That’s not bad at all. From one fat pig to another… Is that terrible? That’s not terrible at all,” Rogan said. “It’s just jokes. If someone got so upset they never want to listen to Jelly Roll’s music again after that… human beings do things that other humans don’t like and then you get the consequences.”
Ultimately, Rogan expressed confidence that Jelly Roll’s career would recover from the incident, praising his talent, personal character, and impressive physical transformation.
“Look, he’s super talented. He’ll be fine,” Rogan concluded, comparing the situation to high-profile figures who survive public controversies. “It’ll be one of those things where it’s a bump in the road and he’ll have to get over it… I mean, he’s a brilliant singer and brilliant songwriter.”
