Bunnie Xo has explained why she chose to remove the most-watched episode of her podcast, which centered on the end of her decade-long marriage to Jelly Roll.
The Dumb Blonde host and Stripped Down author took down the June 18 episode, even though she acknowledged it had earned her $100,000.
That episode revolved around her split from the country star and rapidly became the podcast’s biggest performer. During the conversation, she said the breakup was “not mutual” and suggested it followed a disagreement on Mother’s Day, May 10, 2026.
“He’s my best friend. I don’t care how f**ked up our relationship was — which it wasn’t that f**ked up,” she said in the episode. “I don’t care how much we didn’t communicate or how things shook out. I was riding with this motherf**ker till the wheels fell off.”
She has since said that sharing such a raw account in the moment ended up having consequences she did not want.
“I realized I just don’t want one of the hardest moments of my life to become a permanent headline,” Bunnie, whose real name is Alisa DeFord, admitted in a subsequent episode aired on July 10.
She said the choice to pull the episode came after it had continued circulating widely online and had become a constant talking point in coverage of the split. The original conversation had also included her pushing back on rumors about the marriage, denying there had been cheating and insisting she and Jelly Roll were trying to handle the breakup with as much respect as possible.
She said she still values openness with listeners, but now feels there also has to be room for people to process painful events privately and move on from them.
“I don’t want to live in that. I believe in being transparent with you guys and that’s never ever ever going to change. But I also believe that people deserve the space to heal, to evolve and to move forward.”
Bunnie noted that she does not regret what she said at the time, describing those comments as a truthful reflection of where she was emotionally, even if that is no longer how she feels now.
“It was real, it was honest and it came from exactly where I was emotionally in that moment,” she continued. “But I’m not in that same place anymore.”
“You guys really don’t even know the whole story, you guys know bits and pieces,” she also said, adding that there is ‘so much more’ to her than just ‘one painful chapter’ in her life.
Fans learned in June that Jelly Roll had filed for divorce after nearly 10 years of marriage, with court records showing the filing came on May 18, 2026. Despite the split, the pair have said they still plan to continue their journey toward parenthood together, with Bunnie previously discussing IVF and indicating that she and Jelly Roll, whose real name is Jason Bradley DeFord, intend to co-parent.
In the latest episode, she also appeared to address reaction to being seen kissing Calabasas Confidential star Dylan Wolf in Nashville, pushing back on suggestions that she has already moved on from the marriage.
“When people see me out having fun and just living my best life, I can see where they would be like, ‘Wow they just announced the divorce.’ But really you guys have to understand I have been sitting in purgatory for two and a half months in my studio house. Literally there was times where I was on the floor screaming, crying,” she said.