Jelly Roll Backpedals After Week Of Criticism: 'I'm Pretty Down The Middle'

Alex Christy
August 28th, 2026 9:51 AM

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After a week of criticism and accusations that he had come down with Trump Derangement Syndrome, Jimmy Kimmel Live! guest host Jelly Roll closed out the week on ABC on Thursday by attempting to backtrack and claim that “I'm pretty down the middle” and use his final monologue to implore the country to be better than its leaders.

Following a clip of Newsmax’s Ed Henry calling him a hypocrite for writing songs about Jesus and praising President Trump’s UFC fight at the White House and then going to Hollywood to bash Trump for money, Jelly Roll retorted, “First of all, I didn't do this for the check. I'm [bleep] rich, y'all. And listen. I don't want to throw my buddy under the bus, but Jimmy Kimmel is cheap as hell. And secondly, do y'all know why I was raving about that UFC fight at the White House? 'Cause it was [bleep] awesome. Justin Gaethje pulled off one of the biggest upsets in UFC history, y’all.”

 

 

He also insisted, “But just because I watched a fight on TV doesn't mean I support everything this administration does. Just like how 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. I am a Christian. I am a country music singer. I'm a farmer. I'm a bow hunter. And most of the things I eat I prefer to get with a stick and a string. That's the truth. In fact, the second I leave here, I'm going elk hunting. And I'm gonna send the vegan producer, Erin, her own elk steak.”

Jelly Roll added, “But I also spent the past week working in a building with the kindest, most talented group of Chihuahua-hugging, oat-milk-latte-loving lefties on God's green Earth and it was a [bleep] blast, y’all. And I am truly gonna miss all of my communist Antifa friends here on the staff of Jimmy Kimmel Live! You guys are like family to me.”

For a man trying to portray himself as a centrist, the quips about sending Producer Erin a steak and the staff being stereotypical California liberals were the first real jokes Jelly Roll made about liberals all week.

As it was, Jelly Roll then got more serious, “And on a serious note, this was the first place I ever got to sing a song on national TV. My first single, even before it went big on country radio. Jimmy believed in me and brought me here. I got to do my first skit here. I sat on a couch for the first time here. I got to sing with Cleto, God rest his soul. And then last year, he gave me the chance to host this thing for the first time, y'all. Thank you all. Just so we're clear this year, it wasn't the hosting gig that I was looking forward to. It was the platform to get some very personal stuff off of my chest.”

He then spent time talking about his belief in second chances following his own criminal history as well as his late die-hard Democratic father still being close with his very Republican brother.

Eventually, Jelly Roll claimed, “It hasn't been easy being on this show this week. I knew what kind of a [bleep]storm I was going to cause, and I was okay with that. Because I told myself I would never again be so afraid of being called ‘political’ that I didn't say what I know is right.”

 

 

Jelly Roll then tried to be Mr. Bipartisan, “And while everything else I've said this week has been a complete joke, this is not. Our leaders on both sides are doing an absolute [bleep] job of trying to bring us together, y'all. And this is what we need to remember. That doesn't mean that responsibility disappears. That means that responsibility then falls on us. And when I say ‘Us,’ I mean the old school we the people. There's a famous quote I live by. Thank you. There's a famous quote that I think about all the time that says, while we are fighting monsters, we must be careful not to become a monster ourselves.”

He concluded by tearing up, “And I hope that tonight, while he's looking down from heaven, I made him proud. And tomorrow, I'm gonna try a little harder than I did today to love my neighbor, because sometimes they're not all the way lovable, and I hope y'all will do the same thing. I'm going to go back here and cry.”

If Jelly Roll had spent the week being an equal-opportunity comedian, that speech would’ve come off better. It is likely that if Kimmel renews his contract for at least another year, Jelly Roll will be guest-hosting again at some point in 2027, and that will be the test of whether he can live up to the bipartisan credentials he now wants to claim.

Here is a transcript for the August 27 show:

ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live!

8/27/2026

11:40 PM ET

JELLY ROLL: First of all, I didn't do this for the check. I'm [bleep] rich, y'all. And listen. I don't want to throw my buddy under the bus, but Jimmy Kimmel is cheap as hell. And secondly, do y'all know why I was raving about that UFC fight at the White House? 'Cause it was [bleep] awesome. Justin Gaethje pulled off one of the biggest upsets in UFC history, y’all.

But just because I watched a fight on TV doesn't mean I support everything this administration does. Just like how 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. I am a Christian. I am a country music singer. I'm a farmer. I'm a bow hunter. And most of the things I eat I prefer to get with a stick and a string. That's the truth. In fact, the second I leave here, I'm going elk hunting.

And I'm gonna send the vegan producer, Erin, her own elk steak. But I also spent the past week working in a building with the kindest, most talented group of Chihuahua-hugging, oat-milk-latte-loving lefties on God's green Earth and it was a [bleep] blast, y’all. And I am truly gonna miss all of my communist Antifa friends here on the staff of Jimmy Kimmel Live! You guys are like family to me.

And on a serious note, this was the first place I ever got to sing a song on national TV. My first single, even before it went big on country radio. Jimmy believed in me and brought me here. I got to do my first skit here. I sat on a couch for the first time here. I got to sing with Cleto, God rest his soul.

And then last year, he gave me the chance to host this thing for the first time, y'all. Thank you all. Just so we're clear this year, it wasn't the hosting gig that I was looking forward to. It was the platform to get some very personal stuff off of my chest.

…

It hasn't been easy being on this show this week. I knew what kind of a [bleep]storm I was going to cause, and I was okay with that. Because I told myself I would never again be so afraid of being called "political" that I didn't say what I know is right.

And while everything else I've said this week has been a complete joke, this is not. Our leaders on both sides are doing an absolute [bleep] job of trying to bring us together, y'all. And this is what we need to remember. That doesn't mean that responsibility disappears. That means that responsibility then falls on us. And when I say "Us," I mean the old school we the people. There's a famous quote I live by. Thank you. There's a famous quote that I think about all the time that says, while we are fighting monsters, we must be careful not to become a monster ourselves.

We may disagree. We may argue. We may vote completely differently, but let's not try to let the couple of things we disagree about make us forget the hundreds and hundreds of things we have in common. My daddy was right about that. And he was right about something else. It is never too late to do the right thing.

And I hope that tonight, while he's looking down from heaven, I made him proud. And tomorrow, I'm gonna try a little harder than I did today to love my neighbor, because sometimes they're not all the way lovable, and I hope y'all will do the same thing. I'm going to go back here and cry. 

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