A country singer who spent a week guest-hosting Jimmy Kimmel Live! and skewered President Trump and conservatives was removed from a November gala at Mar-a-Lago by a pro-police group, triggering a debate about values, faith, and loyalty to the audience that helped build his career.
A pro-police organization pulled country singer Jelly Roll from a November fundraising gala at Mar-a-Lago after a week of late-night monologues that attacked President Trump and conservatives. The event, set for November 17, benefits the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Foundation, a 501(c)(3) that supports families of wounded and fallen federal law enforcement officers.
Kyle S. Reyes, owner of The Police Tribune, announced the disinvitation on his X account with a blunt message: “We’re DONE. You’re FIRED.” Reyes said the gala would draw heads of federal agencies, sheriffs, police chiefs, and supporters, and that the singer would no longer share their stage or their audience.
Jason Bradley DeFord, known as Jelly Roll, filled in for Jimmy Kimmel during the week of August 25 and used the platform to attack President Trump, calling him a “fat pig” and making insinuations about racism. Reports note he focused his jabs on conservatives rather than turning his fire on the left, and by the end of the week he was publicly calling himself a “centrist” after an emotional night on stage.
The fallout was immediate and visible. Jelly Roll reportedly lost hundreds of thousands of followers across social platforms, and when fans pushed back he refused to apologize and instead dared them to stop listening to his music.
“For those who threatened to stop listening to my music based on my comments last night, I just want to say with conviction: go right ahead.”
Reyes framed the decision to disinvite Jelly Roll as a matter of character and values rather than mere politics. Describing himself as a Christian, husband, and father of four, Reyes said what he watched during that guest-hosting week did not look like someone walking in faith.
In his X post Reyes wrote that what he saw during the hosting week “was not a man who walks in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, it was a man desperately seeking attention and relevancy from the very Godless crowd that has categorically rejected his preaching.” He added, “The man has lost his way. I don’t hate him. I actually genuinely pity him.”
Reyes also pointed to DeFord’s past. Jelly Roll is a convicted felon, and Reyes used that history to argue the singer had already received a second chance from the justice system and now needed to seek real repentance and refocus his life.
“Jelly Roll believes in second chances. As a felon, he’s been given one by the judicial system. He may not get one from his former audience. But what he really needs to seek now isn’t forgiveness from President Trump or those who he attacked… but rather from the very God whom he snubbed his nose at while trying to boost his ratings.”
Reyes named Coffey Anderson as the replacement for the November 17 gala and described a sharply different approach to the crowd at Mar-a-Lago. Anderson’s set, Reyes said, will include patriotic songs and will close with worship music, a program designed to honor the fallen officers and the faith many in that room share.
“Coffey won’t just be performing ‘Mr. Red White And Blue’ and ‘America is My Hometown.’ He’ll close out the annual gala with WORSHIP MUSIC honoring God.”
The choice is intentional: where Jelly Roll used a national TV stint to mock a sitting president and alienate a conservative fan base, Anderson is slated to sing songs that celebrate the nation and end in prayerful music. Reyes made clear this event is for badges and blue, family members of the fallen, and supporters who expect respect for both country and faith.
The timeline of Jelly Roll’s week on ABC is straightforward and unforgiving. Around August 25 he opened his guest-hosting with anti-Trump material, by August 27 he was daring fans to walk away, and by August 28 he was openly emotional and calling himself centrist. The social-media losses and the lost Mar-a-Lago appearance followed fast.
Beyond the headlines, DeFord’s personal life has seen turmoil as well; his divorce from Bunnie Xo was finalized earlier this year, adding strain to a brand built on redemption and faith. For many country fans, that personal redemption story is the currency that earned him a place in their playlists, and his late-night jabs felt like a betrayal to those listeners.
Reyes closed his message to Jelly Roll by calling for introspection and a return to faith. “What you did wasn’t strong or in love,” he wrote. “It wasn’t the actions of a man. It was the actions of a little boy seeking the approval of man.” He urged Jelly Roll to “check your heart, brother” and to spend time “diving into the Bible and finding out who you REALLY are.”
