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?”
Referencing a Washington Post report on the president’s recent weight gain, Jelly Roll noted that he has dropped around 300 pounds himself in recent years — “that means I’ve lost an entire Donald Trump,” he said, before tacking on a jab at the president’s approval numbers.
He also mocked Trump’s appearance at a Washington, D.C. IndyCar race over the weekend, and ran a montage of the president mocking other people’s appearances after wryly insisting the audience shouldn’t stoop to weight jokes.
“Well Mr. President, from one fat pig to another, take it from me that physical fitness is very important,” Jelly Roll concluded.
Back for his second consecutive summer filling in for Jimmy Kimmel, Jelly Roll is hosting for four nights, with guests including podcast host Jay Shetty and actor Glen Powell — who revealed that Jelly Roll has a small role in his upcoming film The Comeback King — and Stevie Nicks booked as a musical guest later in the run.
The guest hosting spot comes at a career high point for the country star, 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.”
