lifestyle

Jelly Roll is off the grid — and his phone is somewhere at the bottom of the Cumberland River. In an effort to reduce stress, the country star recently chucked his cell into the water and has no plans to replace it, he revealed on the latest episode of Bunnie XO’s Dumb Blonde podcast.

On the episode posted Monday (Dec. 16), Jelly began by saying, “I can confidently tell people I’m not gonna have a phone all of ’25.”

The “Son of a Sinner” singer then recounted to Bunnie — whom he married in 2016 — a recent drunk night out that ended with him asking his driver to pull over so that he could get out of the car and lob his phone into the Cumberland, which runs through Kentucky and Tennessee — not that it was an on-the-fly decision. “I was determined,” Jelly recalled, laughing. “I talked about this in interviews all year. I was like, if this tour goes the way I want it to, I’m gonna throw my phone off the Shelby Street Bridge.”

Jelly went on to explain why it’s more “healthy” for him to be phoneless, noting that he’ll probably downgrade to a simple flip phone in 2025. “I was getting to a point that I was getting hundreds and hundreds of text messages a day,” he shared. “And I just was overwhelmed. I would just feel like such a bad human for missing them. I was carrying a lot of guilt. This phone was causing me a lot of guilt.”

“I would use my phone as a way to avoid,” the Nashville native added. “I would be missing text messages and know there were so many over there that it was too stressful to go check. So I would avoid that by mindless scrolling or, you know, I had these news alerts on my phone, and then we become big news stories all the time. I started getting caught up in that. It doesn’t make me a better person.”

Jelly is currently on break from his Beautifully Broken Tour, which picks back up in Canada in March following a festival performance at Coors Light Birds Nest in Scottsdale, Ariz. In April, he’ll join Post Malone on a two-month joint North American stadium trek.

While on tour, the musician — who recently performed two tracks at the 2024 Billboard Music Awards — has been open about his weight-loss journey. On Dumb Blonde, Jelly explained why he’s stayed so public about the process, telling Bunnie, “I want to be honest about my struggles with it for people.”

“I think that people that become as big as I became, when they lose the weight, they’re so ashamed that they go and hide and lose the weight,” continued Jelly, who revealed he’s now lost 140 pounds. “I wanted to lose [weight] in front of everybody, I wanted to talk about it. I want to bring people along with me.”

Listen to his episode on Dumb Blonde below.

Brian Austin Green is firmly on the side of Megan Fox — to whom he was married from 2010 to 2022 and shares three kids with — when it comes to the actress’ rumored split from MGK this week.

While out and about Thursday (Dec. 12), the Beverly Hills, 90210 alum reacted to the news of his famous ex’s split from the musician when TMZ approached him for comment. “I didn’t even know,” he begins in a clip on the outlet’s website, throwing his head back with a big sigh.

“How old is he? He’s in his 30s, isn’t he?” Green continued after the reporter suggested that something on the “My Ex’s Best Friend” musician’s phone had sparked the breakup. “In your 30s, grow up. She’s pregnant.”

Billboard has reached out to reps for the actress and musician.

The actor’s comments come just days after multiple publications reported that the Jennifer’s Body star and MGK had called it quits just weeks after announcing that they’re expecting their first baby together, with several reporting that the breakup had happened in November. Reps for both parties did not respond when Billboard reached out for comment at the time.

Fox and the rapper-turned-rocker had been in an on-and-off relationship since 2020, getting engaged in 2022, the same year she finalized her divorce from the actor. The following year, the pair called it quits before getting back together later in 2023.

Prior to her relationship with MGK, the Pretty Boys Are Poisonous author welcomed three children — 12-year-old Noah, 10-year-old Bodhi and 8-year-old Journey — with Green. The “Bad Things” singer is also a dad to daughter Casie, whom he shares with ex Emma Cannon.

While speaking to TMZ, Green added, “I just want the best for [Megan], I want the best for the baby, I want the best for our kids.”

“That’s a shame,” he continued. “I’m heartbroken about it. I know she’s been so excited, and the kids are so excited, for life and the change … I don’t know the facts of it, but if that’s the case, that’s a tragic situation.”

Taylor Swift is not the kind of girl who should be rudely barging in on a white-veiled occasion, but she’s very much ready to be a part of newly engaged Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco‘s wedding. 

The “Anti-Hero” singer was one of the first stars to publicly react to her longtime best friend’s engagement to the producer, news Gomez shared Wednesday night (Dec. 11) via an adorable post on Instagram. “forever starts now,” the Only Murders in the Building star had written, captioning a carousel of photos that began with a close-up of her ring, and included a snap of Blanco kissing her on the cheek. 

In the comments, Swift joked, “yes I will be the flower girl.” 

Numerous other friends also commented messages of congratulations on the post, including Cardi B, Jennifer Aniston, Lily Collins, Gordon Ramsay, Suki Waterhouse, Gwyneth Paltrow, Julia Michaels and more. Blanco chimed in as well, writing, “Hey wait… that’s my wife.” 

The news comes about a year and a half after Gomez and the “Eastside” musician started dating. The former first confirmed their relationship in December 2023, telling fans on Instagram, “He is my absolute everything in my heart.” 

As the “Lose You to Love Me” artist’s friend of 15 years, Swift has been there for Gomez through it all. The two women first sparked a friendship around 2009, when both  were dating Jonas brothers — Joe and Nick, respectively — and have stayed close ever since. The Wizards of Waverly Place alum attended multiple Eras Tour shows between its March 2023 kickoff and Dec. 8 finale in Vancouver, B.C., and both stars are quick to praise one another when given the chance. 

“The most influential artist, for me, it is kind of Taylor,” Gomez said on SiriusXM in 2022. “Not because she’s my friend, but she has been an artist that can transition into so many different genres and she is able to do it seamlessly, and I admire that so much. And that’s so rare. I love her process, and I just admire all the work that she’s done. She’s definitely inspired me.” 

That same year, Swift supported her bestie after the premiere of Gomez’s documentary, My Mind & Me. “So proud of you @selenagomez,” the “Karma” artist wrote on Instagram Stories at the time. “Love you forever.”