Jelly Roll has mentioned how confident he is about parenting his teenage daughter, Bailee Ann, and that she will not repeat the same mistakes he made when he was her age. He had his first run-in with law enforcement when he was 14, which resulted in an arrest. Jelly welcomed Bailee with his ex, Felicia, in 2008 while serving time in prison for drug dealing.
In his cover story for PEOPLE, he opened up about his honest conversations with his daughter. The 39-year-old also has a son, Noah Buddy DeFord, from a previous relationship.
Jelly Roll on letting teen daughter Bailee make mistakes
For the cover story, Jelly Roll recalled an open conversation with his daughter, Bailee, who he believes is capable of big things. He remembered telling the teen,”‘I don’t judge you based on what you do. I judge you based on what I know you’re capable of.'”
Jelly then tells the outlet that he assured her she is “smarter,” “much better,” and “more emotionally intelligent” than he was at her age. Bailee is now 16. Calling her “Miss Sassy,” he further told her how good she is at reading “a room,” urging her not to use his felonious past to “talk your way out of getting in trouble.”
The singer then talked about letting the teenager make mistakes. Jelly believes Baillee knows that every time he is “hard on her about stuff or a little pushy” about slip-ups, she “knows it’s from love.” Not only that, he noted that he looks at some of her missteps that he considers “horrible” and compares them to “what I was doing at 16, and I’m like, ‘Oh man…'”
Jelly Roll and his now-wife Bunnie Xo received primary custody of Bailee in 2017 because of her biological mother Felicia’s history of drug addiction. Jelly also mentioned that his daughter has “been in the same public school district for 10 years and had the same friends since” they got her custody, describing her as a “hammered down kid.” Despite the roadblocks, the teen is now working on repairing her relationship with her mom.
Apart from that, Jelly’s daughter Bailee has made several public appearances with him, recently at the 2024 CMA Awards.
