Country star Jelly Roll says he was profiled while shopping at a Louis Vuitton store in Sydney.
According to Fox News, the country hitmaker said employees were acting as if he was about to “rob” the place.
“Hey man, the Louis Vuitton in Sydney, legitimately just treated us like we were finna [sic] come in and rob that place,” the Grammy-nominated singer said in a video posted to social media Wednesday.
“I have never been looked at more like a crim… Listen, the last time I was looked at like a criminal this bad… I was an actual criminal this bad,” he added.
Jelly Roll, whose real name is Jason Bradley DeFord, has spoken openly about his criminal past and struggles with addiction. He was arrested at age 16 and charged as an adult with aggravated robbery and possession with intent to sell, serving more than a year in prison and seven years on probation.
“I never want to overlook the fact that it was a heinous crime,” Jelly Roll told Billboard in 2023. “This is a grown man looking back at a 16-year-old kid that made the worst decision that he could have made in life and people could have got hurt and, by the grace of God, thankfully, nobody did.”
The “Save Me” singer has credited the birth of his daughter for turning his life around.
“As soon as she was born,” he told Sunday TODAY with Willie Geist in 2024, “I was sitting in a jail cell, having $17 of honeybuns and potato chips to [my] name. I own one outfit… and here I am responsible for a child.”
“I was the lowest common denominator in life… I was scum of the Earth. I was a crack dealer. I was a horrible, horrible human. And I was like, ‘I’ve got to figure this out.’”
At the 2023 CMA Awards, he reflected on how his past shaped him: “I wouldn’t be the man I am today if it wasn’t for what I went through. I think it empowered me… It taught me a lot about overcoming.”
He added, “I was a horrible human for decades, and to just be able to turn that around and give a message in the music and help people… is very indicative of where I came from and how important it is to me to always reach back.”
