“It Was a Very Tense Moment”: Jelly Roll Allegedly Confronted the Reporter that Asked Him About ICE at the GRAMMYs

During a new conversation on the Plus One Show with Jess Lucero, Rolling Stone Staff Writer Tomás Mier has shared some insight into what went down after his colleague, Senior Reporter Nancy Dillon, asked Jelly Roll about “the state of the country” at the post-GRAMMYs press conference last Sunday (February 1st, 2026).

It was Dillon's question that led to Jelly's controversial remarks about being “a dumb redneck”, with the ‘Need a Favor’ hitmaker claiming his fans shouldn't care what he has to say about politics. Dillon prefaced the question by referencing Shaboozey and Billie Eilish, both of whom had been vocal against the ICE in the ceremony.

Mier begins, “Nobody's talked about this, because it happened in the press room and only certain people saw, but this is something that happened and I think we should talk about it”.

He goes on to claim that Jelly returned to the press room after his conference to confront Dillon, not about her ICE question, but about an article Rolling Stone had published late last year. The piece was one titled How Nashville's Music Row Went MAGA in 2025, in which Jelly was associated with Trump and the MAGA movement.

It's worth flagging that, despite many speculating about the ‘Son of a Sinner’s political allegiance, Jelly has never confirmed one way or another which party he favours. Due to his past felony charge, Jelly hasn't been able to vote for almost two decades.

Mier continues, “After Jelly Roll did walk off stage...he came back to speak to Nancy in a not-happy tone about a Rolling Stone article that had been published before, where they associated him with MAGA stuff. And it was a very tense moment, because it was Jelly Roll speaking from a platform down to a reporter who was just doing her job...Everybody in the room just froze. At one point, somebody on his team just came and just told Jelly, like, ‘Jelly, we have to go, like, let's go’”.

Mier concludes by stressing that Dillon was not even the author of that article, rather, it was Senior Research Editor Jonathan Bernstein, “Nancy didn't write that story, and it was just because it was Rolling Stone, she was representing the brand, and got yelled at, and everybody in the room saw it. We're not allowed to film in there with our own phones. So what was posted was the camera footage given to us by the Recording Academy. It made everybody uncomfortable”.

Although we cannot know for certain why Jelly took issue with that particular article, we can only assume it was because the piece was assuming ties to MAGA that he had never spoken about, based primarily on the fact that he had met Trump in 2024. At that time, Jelly had to clarify via his wife Bunnie XO's podcast that he wasn't political, and that he was simply excited to meet the president-elect.

Jelly emphasised, “Dude, there’s not a chance in hell that I’m not going to meet the president-elect. I don’t care — if I got a call to meet Joe Biden, I would have stopped at any point and meet him. That’s the active president. I don’t care about what he thinks or I think about policies. I don’t hide behind the ‘I’m not political’ stuff. I’m not political! People who actually know me know I’m also one of the old school dudes. I like to talk about things I’m passionate about. With that, I like to know about it”.

He foreshadowed his GRAMMY sentiments, stating, “I don’t know enough about politics to act like I know anything that’s going on or what anybody’s standing for policy-wise”.

Based on this attitude towards politics, therefore, it seems Jelly was disgruntled that Rolling Stone was so publicly linking him to the Trump administration and MAGA. When that piece was published, it did feel like a somewhat warped depiction of today's country music scene, with the main figures that have outwardly expressed support for Trump, such as Jason Aldean, Nate Smith and Brian Kelley, not, by any means, the most dominant artists in the space.

Even so, though, it definitely doesn't seem fair for Dillon to receive the flak from Jelly for this, if Dillon was not involved in writing the outlet's feature on country and MAGA.

Elsewhere in his recorded press conference response to Dillon, before allegedly confronting her afterwards, Jelly mused, “I’m glad somebody asked, because I love talking about this stuff, and people care to hear my opinion, but so I can tell you that people shouldn’t care to hear my opinion. You know, I’m a dumb redneck, like, I haven’t watched enough...I didn’t have a phone for 18 months. I've had one for four months, and I don't have social media. I hate to be the artist that's aloof, but I just, like...I've become so disconnected from what's happening”.

He expanded, “I grew up in a house of, like, insane pandemonium...I didn’t even know politics were f***ing real until I was in my mid-20s in jail. Like, that’s how disconnected [you are] when you grew up in a drug addict household. You think we, like, had common calls about what’s happening in rural politics? Like, we’re just trying to find a way to survive, man. I have a lot to say about it, and I’m going through it the next week, and everybody’s going to hear exactly what I have to say about it in the most loud and clear way I’ve ever spoken in my life. So I look forward to it”.

It's not yet apparent what the ‘Winning Streak’ chart-topper was referring to here, when he outlines that he will be addressing the political state of the US this week, and that he will be doing so in “the most loud and clear way I’ve ever spoken in my life”.

On the night, Jelly received three coveted awards for Best Contemporary Country Album (Beautifully Broken), Best Country Duo/Group Performance for ‘Amen’ with Shaboozey and Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song for his faith-filled collaboration with Brandon Lake, ‘Hard Fought Hallelujah’.

He used his acceptance speech during the ceremony to pay tribute to his challenging journey to this point, as well as professing his deep sense of spirituality, “First of all, Jesus, I hear you, and I’m listening. Lord, I am listening. Lord. Second of all, I want to thank my beautiful wife. I would have never changed my life without you. I would have ended up dead or in jail. I would have killed myself if it wasn’t for you and Jesus. I thank you for that...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 were days that I thought the darkest things. I was a horrible human”.

The ‘Save Me’ singer-songwriter went on to reflect on his time in prison, “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. I love you, Lord”.

Shortly after the ceremony, Bunnie XO confirmed that Jelly was planning to donate one of his three GRAMMY gongs to a local Nashville jail, to serve as inspiration for inmates.

For more on Jelly Roll, see below: