Jelly Roll Jabs Trump Over Weight While Guest-Hosting ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’

Jelly Roll took several jabs at President Donald Trump during his opening monologue as guest host of Jimmy Kimmel Live on Monday (Aug. 24), turning his fill-in stint into a pointed political set.

The country star, who is guest-hosting the ABC late-night show for four nights while Jimmy Kimmel is away, opened by noting it was the first time he’d “worn a suit and a tie ever.” “I didn’t wear one to the Grammys. I didn’t wear one to court. I didn’t wear one to my father’s funeral,” he said. “But I look alright, don’t I?”

He then turned to the weekend’s IndyCar race in Washington, D.C., hosted by Trump, joking that the president “drove around the track in his motorcade doing what they call the ‘lap of honor,'” which he likened to “a loyalty program at a strip club.”

Jelly Roll went on to reference reporting on the president’s health, citing a Washington Post story about doctors’ concerns over Trump’s weight, before pivoting to his own well-documented transformation. “Over the past few years, I’ve actually lost 300 pounds,” he said. “That means I’ve lost an entire Donald Trump.”

The segment built to a bit in which Jelly Roll cautioned the audience not to mock the president over his weight “because we know that he would never do that to other people” — a setup for a montage of clips of Trump doing exactly that. “Well Mr. President, from one fat pig to another, take it from me that physical fitness is very important,” Jelly Roll concluded.

It marks the second consecutive year the singer has filled in as a Kimmel guest host. His guests during the run include podcast host Jay Shetty and actor Glen Powell, who revealed that Jelly Roll has a small role in his forthcoming film The Comeback King.

The monologue arrives at a career high point for Jelly Roll, born Jason DeFord, who has become one of the most successful crossover artists in country music. Earlier this year he won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Country Album for Beautifully Broken, the 2024 release that became his first No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Its single “I Am Not Okay” reached No. 14 on the Hot 100 and became one of six career No. 1s on the Country Airplay chart, alongside “Son of a Sinner,” “Need a Favor,” “Save Me” (with Lainey Wilson) and “Halfway to Hell.”