Jelly Roll reflects on raising a 16-year-old daughter who was arrested as a teenager

Jelly Roll recounts an emotional conversation he had with his 16-year-old daughter Bailee, who is now the same age as he was during his difficult teenage years.

In an interview with People published Wednesday, the “Need a Favor” singer recalled telling Bailee, “I don’t judge you by what you do. I’m judging you based on what I think you’re capable of.”

“You’re so much smarter than I was at 16,” he added to his conversation with her. “They are so much better, so much more emotionally intelligent. You can read a room so much better. So don’t try to talk your way out of trouble, Miss Sassy, ​​by weaponizing my past.”

He told People: “When I look at what she does, which I think is terrible, I look back at what I did when I was 16 and I think, ‘Oh man…’ when I get angry about things or “I’m so hard on her.” a bit pushy, she knows it comes from love.

In addition to Bailee, Jelly Roll, who is married to Bunnie Xo, is also the proud father of his 8-year-old son Noah, both from previous relationships.

The singer was first arrested at the age of 14. The singer’s checkered past included 40 incarcerations for various crimes, as detailed in a Billboard profile and the 2023 Hulu documentary “Jelly Roll: Save Me.”

In prison, Jelly Roll learned that he had become Bailee’s father – a revelation that became a turning point in his life.

“It’s like a Damascus Road experience in the Bible,” he said during his appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience in 2023. “I immediately thought, ‘I have to do something. I have to stop this thing.” —. I have to find out.

Earlier this year, Jelly Roll brought Bailee on stage during his Stagecoach 2024 performance, where he had the audience sing “Happy Birthday” to celebrate her upcoming 16th birthday.

“It was really cool, man,” he told “Good Morning America” about the surprise afterward. “She still has about two weeks until her birthday, but she’s never been this close to having so many people singing for her.”

“She was embarrassed, but in a good way,” he added at the time. “In a really fun way.”