Watch Jelly Roll’s ‘Tulsa King’ meeting with Stallone’s mobster

“What’s the problem?” Sylvester Stallone’s mobster boss Dwight Manfredi asks before confronting a tough-looking visitor in Episode 2 of the TV drama “Tulsa King.”
There’s no problem.
It’s just country music phenom Jelly Roll making his scripted TV debut on “Tulsa King,” his self-confessed favorite show. The “Tulsa King” Season 2 Jelly Roll scene, revealed exclusively on USA TODAY, will stream on Paramount+ on Sunday.
“Jelly Roll’s schedule is crazy busy, but he’s a major fan and we found this window. It all came together very quickly,” says executive producer Terence Winter. “We were thrilled to have him knock it out.”
The “Tulsa King” cameo, playing himself, caps off a huge week for Jelly Roll, 39, who soulfully belted his hit “I Am Not Okay” during the In Memorium section of Sunday’s Emmy Awards and was announced as the musical guest on the Sept. 28 episode of “SNL.”
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The “Tulsa King” appearance was filmed in April when Jelly Roll was passing near the Atlanta set on his Beautifully Broken Tour.
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The concert tour bus even pulled up to the Atlanta studio and the rookie actor spent the night in the parking lot. Jelly Roll woke up on the tour bus the next morning to find his song “Halfway to Hell” had hit number one on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart (his fourth) and then to shoot his “Tulsa King” scenes with Stallone.
The appearance features Stallone’s Tulsa gangster boss, Manfredi, throwing an opening party for the new swanky cannabis club, The Even Higher Plane, which features a coffee bar and a recording booth.
Stallone ad-libbed his moments with party guest Jelly Roll. The pop culture caveman Manfredi doesn’t recognize the country star, referring to him as “Jelly Fish.”
“Lucky for me, Dwight and Stallone are two different guys. Sly knew my name,” Jelly Roll tells USA TODAY over email. “Dude, I’m such a hard-core ‘Tulsa King’ fan that me and my wife binge-watched the whole first season the first day it dropped.”
The onscreen Manfredi meeting is brief before Jelly Roll goes into the Even Higher Plane recording booth to belt out, “I Am Not Okay.”
“There’s so much wild (stuff) going on in ‘Tulsa King,’ so much crossing out happening,” Jelly Roll says about choosing the song for the carnage-filled show. “I think ‘I Am Not Okay’ was perfect.”
Jelly Roll found time to talk shop with Stallone and re-watch the scenes on the video playback monitors before the tour bus rolled on. He’s thankful for his friendship with Stallone’s daughter Sistine, who made the initial connection. And he vows to return.
“I owe Sistine forever for getting me to be part of my favorite show,” says Jelly Roll. “I’d do anything to return to ‘Tulsa King.'”