It should be the happiest time of his life — but Jamal Roberts, the newly crowned American Idol winner, is now revealing a reality few expected. In a startling new interview, Roberts opened up about the growing security fears that have followed him since the finale aired.
“I need to get out,” he confessed. “I can’t even go to the store without feeling watched.”
What started as a dream is now turning into a daily struggle for safety, and fans are left wondering: how did things go so wrong, so fast?

Since skyrocketing to fame on “American Idol” and winning season 23, Jamal Roberts’ life has changed so much that he can’t even go to the grocery store without security guards accompanying him. In between recording sessions and gigs, like performing at the BET Awards, he’s trying to maintain some normalcy back at home in Meridian, Mississippi.

“They tell me, ‘Don’t go outside. Don’t do this, don’t do this, stay at home,” Roberts told fans during a Facebook Live session on June 13, 2025. “That’s what they tell me, to stay at home. Even though I’m a homebody, I’m like, ‘No man, I need to get out.’”

Noting that being able to occasionally go out and do things on his own keeps him “sane” and grounded,” the R&B singer said the toughest part about his newfound fame is that all the attention can be scary for his three young daughters — Harmoni, 7, Lyrik, 4, and Gianna, who’s less than two months old. Roberts pleaded with fans to be more respectful of boundaries when he’s with them in public.

Jamal Roberts Says Screaming Fans Are Overwhelming to His Kids

“Respectfully, I don’t want nobody in they’re feelings or feeling no way about this, it’s just good to address it,” Roberts started his Facebook Live, mentioning later that he’d heard about an social media post from someone who’d asked him for a photo out in public but was turned down.

“If you see me out and about, which I really hardly ever do, especially in my city,” Roberts said, and I’ve got my kids and I’ve got security with me, y’all please … it’s a lot with the pictures. And I’m trying to get them to come around, but at the same time, I’m still trying to get adjusted to all the hollering, all the fans and all the things.”

“So, sometimes it becomes overwhelming for them, and when they’re overwhelmed, I’m like ‘okay,” Roberts said, putting his hand over his heart and widening his eyes. “Respectfully, when I’m out and I’ve got my kids, it’s okay to speak. But all the coming up, wanting to take pictures, no, no, no. You know, when you have your kids and they’re overwhelmed, it can get overwhelming (for you, too).”

As Roberts cared for his infant, Gianna, and his older daughters played in the background during his Facebook Live, he told the several thousand fans tuning in that there’s now security with him wherever he goes, whether he’s with his kids or not. He’s not opposed to taking a photo when his kids aren’t around, he said — as long as he has time to do so. But if he agrees to talk and pose with every fan, he advised fans, “just imagine … nothing that I plan to get done is going to get done.”

“If I’m by myself, most definitely, if I’ve got time, I’ll snap a picture with you,” Roberts said. “I literally love all ‘yall, for real.”

But he reiterated that when it comes to his kids, “I gotta protect them. Nowadays, you just don’t know people’s intentions. My job as a daddy is always to put them first, especially if they with me. Just give me that moment, let me have that moment.”

Jamal Roberts Loves Being a ‘Girl Dad’

Roberts has talked repeatedly about how much he loves being a “girl dad.” He revealed in interviews after his “American Idol” win that they do not have the same moms, but that he is on good terms with all of them.

In May, he said on the nationally syndicated “Morning Hustle” radio show, “I have no problems in no areas of my life when it comes to my kids. I’ve been a present father since they were … pregnant. I’ve been present.”

“I have no problems,” he continued. “They don’t question me about anything. I’m always there for my kids. Anytime they need something, I’m there, it does not matter.”