Jelly Roll is partially blaming himself for his teen daughter’s mental health struggles related to her mother.
The singer, 40, got candid about the struggles he and his family faced due to the addiction struggles of his baby mama—with whom he welcomed 16-year-old daughter Bailee Ann—in a new interview The Pivot podcast.
“My child’s mother has struggled with drug addiction since my daughter’s been born pretty much,” said Jelly on the podcast. “The addict is not the victim in that situation. The family is.”
The singer began wondering how Bailee must have received the news of her mother’s arrest earlier this month in Tennessee for drug possession.
“It was a news article that her mother had went back to jail, had got caught with, like, meth or something,” he said.
“I’ve seen the affect that it’s had on her. I’ve got a 16, almost 17-year-old upstairs and I’ve seen the affect that it’s had — it’s truly affected her life,” added Jelly, who said learning of the arrest “broke” Bailee’s heart.
“This is a 16, 17-year-old that knows her mother is a drug addict, but like, her having to see the mugshot of her mother with just meth ate up on her face,” he continued before pausing to note that he was “getting emotional” speaking on the matter as he started to cry.
The Save Me singer went on about how he has been able to cope with the situation, noting that his daughter may not have it easily.
“I watched her go through it all over again. I was like, ‘Ah, man,’ I forgot ’cause I’m like, I’m 40 and I’ve done a lot of therapy and I’ve done a lot of work and I have a relationship with God that it hurt me, but I just got to pray about it and move on,” said Jelly.Â
“But I was like, ‘Ah, man, she’s 16, she don’t have any of those tools. She’s still gaining those tools. This hurts her.'”
The father of two admitted he feels responsible for much of his daughter’s sufferings over family issues.
“I told my wife, ‘I’ve invited the world into our living room, so we’ve just gotta accept what comes with that,” he said, referencing wife Bunnie Xo. “This is my fault more than anybody’s.”
Jelly is also father to son Noah Buddy from another relationship.
