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Bunnie XO’s faith in God became her unshakable anchor during life’s darkest moments
Bunnie XO is certain of one thing: faith pulled her through the darkest chapters of her life.
The “Dumb Blonde” podcast host and wife of Jelly Roll recently wrote a memoir, “Stripped Down: Unfiltered and Unapologetic.” In it, she lays bare her chaotic upbringing and the emotional highs and lows that defined her early years of her relationship with the singer-songwriter.
“I’m like a cat,” the 46-year-old told Fox News Digital. “I’ve had nine lives, and I genuinely feel like God has always had His hand on my life. He has always been there in some way, even when I wasn’t worthy of it, and even when I didn’t acknowledge Him. Even when I was doing things that were not what He would want me to do, He still always pulled me out of it.”
“My mess became my message and my testimony,” she shared. “I truly feel like leaning on God is the only thing that got me through some of the situations that I put myself in.”
In her book, Bunnie describes how faith guided her through the darkest moments of her life, serving as a source of strength. She also recounts experiencing domestic violence in a past relationship and sexual assault.
When asked if she felt faith may have saved her life, she responded without hesitation, “100%.”
WATCH: JELLY ROLL REVEALS THE ONE THING THAT ‘STILL MAKES MY SKIN CRAWL’
“I feel like we all need something to believe in,” she explained. “If there was no hope in the world, the world would be worse off than it already is right now. And I think that faith gives people some sort of hope. I believe the power of Jesus is real. I’ve seen it. I’ve felt His hand.”
Bunnie admitted she hit rock bottom “a few times,” but said, “I never wanted to change.” In the book, Bunnie describes turning to pills, cocaine and alcohol to escape reality and numb the effects of trauma from her upbringing.
“I think it takes people a couple of times of hitting rock bottom before they’re like, ‘I am tired. I am sick and tired of being sick and tired,’” she reflected. “And I think after I finally had a moment to look around, I was like, ‘If I continue on this path that I’m on, I’m either going to end up dead or I’m just going to be another statistic of a Vegas working girl.’”
“I didn’t want that to be my life story,” she said. “I’ve never wanted to become my mother, and I was kind of following in her footsteps.”
Growing up, Bunnie, whose real name is Alyssa DeFord, was close to her late father but struggled to connect with her stepmother, People magazine reported. According to the outlet, her mother left when she was just three months old, and they didn’t reconnect until she was 22. Her mother died in 2022.
The outlet shared that Bunnie left home at age 14 and later endured an abusive relationship until meeting Jelly Roll at a 2015 concert in Las Vegas. The couple married in 2016.
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In the book, Bunnie described herself as a “coked-up bride” after Jelly Roll “had specifically asked me not to do blow before the wedding.”
“… I was just wired to rebel against anybody that told me no,” she told Fox News Digital. “… I’ve just always had that inner fire to not listen to direction or take direction well. It’s definitely hindered me in life because I was a rebel without a cause.”
“And I think that night we were just … I didn’t take him seriously. … I didn’t know my husband well enough to know that when he said something, he was serious about it. So it was more of me just kind of always doing what I had done.”
“If I got drunk, I would do a line of coke and take a Xanax,” she recalled. “I’m just thankful to still be here after mixing drugs like that for so long.”
According to People, Bunnie previously worked as a high-end escort and built a lucrative career in sex work before stepping away in 2020. She was also active on OnlyFans until 2023, the outlet shared.
WATCH: JELLY ROLL AND BUNNIE XO WALK THE RED CARPET TOGETHER AT THE 2025 ACM AWARDS
“… I am only telling my story, and I don’t mean to glamorize [sex work] in any way, because there’s nothing glamorous about selling your body,” she explained. “But when you’re in survival mode, you teach yourself ways to get through life … without, I guess, having guilt about things.”
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“… Now that I’m 46 years old, and I’m looking back at the 26-year-old me who had that mentality,” she continued. “I just want to give her a hug because I want to be like, ‘That wasn’t power. That was you pacifying the abuse that you had gone through and trying to find a way to empower yourself.’ It wasn’t really empowering to me.”
Today, Bunnie focuses on her career and family. She has been candid that sobriety didn’t come easy, sharing that becoming a better stepmom to Jelly Roll’s daughter, Bailee, was a major turning point in her decision to get sober.
“I think sobriety is a personal journey, and I feel like sobriety is different for every single person,” she explained. “It’s not black and white. For me, sobriety means that I can’t take Xanax. I don’t take any pills. I would never snort anything up my nose. I can’t even do nasal sinus cleanings now because I have PTSD from all the drugs I did.
“I stopped drinking in 2018, but I will have one once in a blue moon — we were in Rome, and I was very honest about it with the public. I drank a glass of wine when I was in Rome because I was just like, ‘Dude, I’m in Rome. I am going to drink a glass of wine.’ But that’s all I could take, a glass of wine.”
Bunnie stressed that sobriety could look different to many people, adding that her approach may not reflect other recovery journeys.
“Everybody has their own definition of [their sobriety journey]. Some people can’t have a glass of wine in Rome, and I respect that 100%. But for me, sobriety was a choice. … It’s probably been one of the most rewarding journeys that I’ve been on.”
“But at the same time, I always say to everybody, ‘Sobriety sucks because that’s when the real work begins.’ You start to feel the emotions that you used to push down or that you would numb with substances.”
Bunnie is now eager to see what the next chapter holds for her.
“I really hope that [my book] will touch anybody … and just let them know that it doesn’t matter where you came from. It doesn’t matter who told you you’d never amount to anything. If I can do it, you can certainly do it. I promise you.”
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‘The Drama’ Review: Robert Pattinson, Zendaya star as lovebirds facing utter turmoil in twisted dark rom-com
Has there ever been someone you thought you knew, but then they say or do something that completely changes your view of them?
That’s the predicament Robert Pattinson and Zendaya face in A24’s “The Drama.”
The two of them star as Charlie and Emma, who are just days from getting married. Their relationship could be pulled from any rom-com; they meet in a coffee shop, he’s a geek, she’s gorgeous but approachable, you know the drill.
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Their storybook romance hits unexpected turbulence when they are joined by their friends Mike and Rachel (Mamoudou Athie and Alana Haim) for a wine tasting and they engage in a game of sorts where they each reveal the worst thing they have ever done. Mike goes, and Rachel goes, and Charlie goes, all of them sharing their not-so-greatest moments.
But it was what Emma revealed that truly shook the others, especially Charlie.
Charlie basically has less than a week to grapple with Emma’s dark secret and whether it’s bad enough to not walk down the aisle.
Ironically, what makes “The Drama” work is that it’s a dark comedy. The biting, cringe moments bring plenty of levity as tension builds between Charlie and Emma. Pattinson, mostly known for serious work, is able to bring the funny out of Charlie while being increasingly terrified of his fiancée while Zendaya’s Emma brilliantly sends mixed signals as to whether she’s a changed person from what she once was.
“The Drama” marks Norwegian writer/director Kristoffer Borgli’s second English-language film following 2023’s underrated Nicolas Cage gem “Dream Scenario.” Based on both films, Borgli proves he has the rare gift of balancing humor and intensity. And when Ari Aster (“Hereditary,” Midsommar,” “Beau is Afraid,” “Eddington”) is listed as a producer, you know you’re in for something really twisted.
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The third act falters a bit but “The Drama” is a unique, thought-provoking film that brings rather disturbing fun to the wedding day rom-com and is elevated by Zendaya and Pattinson’s performances. It’s not exactly a must-see but it showcases the talents of its two buzzy leads as well as Borgli as an emerging filmmaker.
“The Drama” is rated R for language, sexual content, and some violence. Running time: 1 hour, 46 minutes. In theaters now.
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RFK Jr, EPA chief ‘declare war’ on microplastics amid growing evidence of health risks
Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr. and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin are declaring a war on microplastics.
These tiny bits of plastic, which are less than 5 mm in size, can persist in our environment for hundreds or thousands of years. They may also build up in our bodies, our hearts and our brains, causing untold damage.
For the first time, the EPA is adding microplastics and pharmaceuticals to its Contaminant Candidate List for drinking water, which will help to prioritize funding and pave the way for potential future regulation involving Congress.
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HHS is also launching the Systematic Targeting of Microplastics — or STOMP — to study how microplastics accumulate in the body.
Kennedy spoke with Fox News in an exclusive interview accompanying the EPA/HHS announcement.
“We do not have the science that distinguishes between the impacts of these different types of plastics, and maybe if we identify those impacts, the damaging ones can be immediately eliminated, because you can replace them with something else,” he said.
“Our job — and we are really at the limit of our power right now — is to try to answer those questions before we take another action.”
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Kennedy pointed to emerging science suggesting microplastics’ direct impacts on public health.
“Some of them may be benign – others are very, very harmful,” he warned. “The science shows if they cause inflammation, they cause oxidative stress.”
“As a body, they are endocrine disruptors, so they interfere with fertility,” he added.
As emerging research suggests a higher risk of heart attack, stroke and neurodegenerative disease when microplastics are present at the cellular level, “the time to act is now,” according to Dr. Leonardo Trasande, a professor of pediatrics and population health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
During a panel accompanying the announcement, Trasande compared the issue to efforts to reduce lead exposure in the 1970s, when the government took action as soon as the danger was identified, even before all research was complete.
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Kennedy, who has a long history of fighting chemicals in the environment, blames big businesses for causing the problem and wants them to clean it up. “That’s a lesson we are all supposed to have learned at kindergarten – that you clean up after yourself, you don’t force the public to do it.”
The same approach applies to pharmaceuticals that make their way into the environment, he noted.
“Particularly for our children, it’s very alarming. They are swimming around now in a toxic soup. It’s coming from everywhere,” Kennedy warned. “It’s coming from their food. It’s coming from agriculture. It’s coming from the air and water, and it’s coming from pharmaceutical drugs.
“Lee has directed his agency under President Trump to do this study so we can start regulating the discharge of these chemicals,” he went on. “A lot of them you can remove through carbon technology and other technologies.”
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Administrator Zeldin said he believes the fight against microplastics is a bipartisan issue. He is calling for more education and transparency when it comes to microplastics and public health, cautioning against the federal government proposing a one-size-fits-all solution.
“You want to be able to get the answers, you want to see the gold-standard science,” he said. “You demand radical transparency. You’re looking through the website, and it’s ignoring what you came to that web page to look for. I feel like there’s a communication gap – and when there’s a communication gap, there’s a trust gap.”
Zeldin and Kennedy have been working closely under President Trump’s Make America Healthy Again agenda and say they enjoy working together.
“There’s no American in this country who can’t get heard somehow by Secretary Kennedy, and it’s just an honor to serve alongside him,” Zeldin said.
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Kennedy added, “I like everybody in that Cabinet, but Lee and I work with particular closeness, and I’ve really enjoyed the relationship.”
It is clear they would like this relationship to continue, even if their roles change. “You never know what’s going to happen,” Kennedy said.
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Tony D’Angelo stands tall as NXT champion after brutal four-way match at Stand & Deliver
Four men entered the ring at Stand & Deliver but only one left as the NXT champion on Saturday night.
Joe Hendry had one of his biggest challenges yet. He had to defend the NXT Championship in a fatal four-way match against Tony D’Angelo, Ricky Saints and Ethan Page. Hendry came into the match as the fan favorite as the crowd in St. Louis, Missouri, was singing his entrance music. But he faced three other hungry challengers.
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D’Angelo, who came into the match with a chip on his shoulder after being betrayed by a friend at last year’s event, walked out of Stand & Deliver as the new NXT champion.
Saints and Page came into the match aligned and tried to weaken Hendry as best as they could to start. They delivered suplexes and shots to the chest to take him out. But the duo’s rift would grow as Page hit a splash on Saints. But Saints got his revenge shot later in the match.
D’Angelo spent the first few minutes on the outside of the ring. Once he regained his composure, D’Angelo hit a spear and focused himself on Hendry before he was thrown to the outside of the ring. Page and Saints turned their attention to the former “Don of NXT.”
The teamwork would last a few moments before Hendry hopped over the ropes and took them both out. For a split second, Hendry was in control. But the numbers game got the better of him again about midway through the match.
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D’Angelo stepped back into the ring to face off against Hendry. He began to power up. Multiple German suplexes were doled out and it looked like D’Angelo was taking control of the match. He broke up a Standing Ovation to hit Hendry with a spear. He then speared Saints out of the ring and hit a second spear on Hendry.
With frustration mounting, Saints wiped out D’Angelo with a chair shot. He hit Hendry with a Revolution DDT onto the chair, too. Saints was going to hit Page with a chair as well, but Page took exception. Their own rivalry turned up a notch.
As Page carried Saints up to the stairs, he wanted to put him through the table. Out of nowhere, D’Angelo speared both men through the announce table. It came down to D’Angelo and Hendry.
D’Angelo hit the Dead to Rights and pinned Hendry to win the NXT Championship.
It is D’Angelo’s first reign as NXT champion.
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