‘Judged More by Christians Than Anything’—Jelly Roll’s Wife Addresses Faith Controversy After Grammys

Jelly Roll Alisa DeFord Grammys
(L) Jelly Roll giving his acceptance speech at the 2026 Grammy Awards—Screengrab via YouTube / Recording Academy / GRAMMYs. (R) Alisa DeFord defending her husband. Screengrab YouTube / Dumb Blonde Podcast

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“I have never said I was a witch,” she clarified. “I have never once ever said that. I have said that I am scared of witchcraft, which is why I have I had witches who did spell work for me.”

“And look what happened. The minute I denounced any sort of witchcraft in my life, my husband starts winning Grammys,” she continued. “You cannot tell me that God is not blessing our family for trying to do better and to be better.”

‘All of [Jelly Roll’s] Music Literally Has Always Had Christian Undertones,’ Alisa DeFord Says

Defending Jelly Roll against being a “performative Christian,” DeFord compared an awards speech he gave at the 2023 Country Music Association (CMA) Awards after winning new artist of the year with his recent Grammys remarks.

In his 2023 CMA speech, Jelly Roll said:

There is something poetic about a 39-year-old man winning new artist of the year. I don’t know where you’re at in your life or what you’re going through, but I want to tell you to keep going, baby. I want to tell you success is on the other side of it. I want to tell you it’s going to be okay. I want to tell you that the windshield is bigger than the rear view mirror for a reason. Because what’s in front of you is so much more important than what’s behind you. Let’s party Nashville.

In his 2026 Grammy speech, Jelly Roll said:

There was a time in my life, y’all, that I was broken. That’s why I wrote this album. I didn’t think I had a chance, y’all. There was days that I thought the darkest things. I was a horrible human. There was a moment in my life that all I had was a Bible this big and a radio the same size and a six-by-eight-foot cell. And I believe that those two things could change my life. I believe that music had the power to change my life, and God had the power to change my life. And I want to tell y’all right now, Jesus is for everybody. Jesus is not owned by one political party. Jesus is not owned by no music label. Jesus is Jesus, and anybody can have a relationship with him.

DeFord said her husband is passionate when he talks, even when there isn’t a microphone in his face.

RELATED: Brandon Lake Defends Collaboration With Jelly Roll: ‘I Don’t Know What Bible Somebody Is Reading’

“The dude cries about everything now. My husband didn’t used to never cried about anything. And now that he’s more in touch with his emotional side and healing from trauma, he freaking cries about everything,” she shared.

“All of his music literally has always had Christian undertones,” DeFord said. “I could sit here and go on for hours and show you music videos…this is not new.”

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Jesse T. Jackson
Jesse is the Senior Content Editor for ChurchLeaders and Site Manager for ChristianNewsNow. An undeserving husband to a beautiful wife, and a father to 4 beautiful children. He is currently a church elder in training, a growth group leader, and is a member of University Baptist Church in Beavercreek, Ohio. Follow him on twitter here (https://twitter.com/jessetjackson). Accredited member of the Evangelical Press Association.

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