Bruce has two children with his wife Michelle "Sugar Slam" Rapp; a son named Joseph "JJ" Bruce II, born in 2005, and a daughter named Ruby Bruce, born in 2006. On Father's Day June 16, 2013 Bruce married Michelle "Sugar Slam" Rapp. Bruce has recorded tracks specifically for his children entitled "Song 4 Son" for his son and "Ruby Song" for his daughter.
In the Hatchet Herald of february 06, 2016, Violent J spoke of the break up between him and his wife Sugar Slam. You can read the article HERE.
They separated and will be friends and raise the children together. Even within Psychopathic Records they keep working together.
Bruce, along with his band mate Joseph Utsler, has had numerous run-ins with the law, having been arrested multiple times starting at the age of seventeen.
Bruce was jailed for ninety days in 1989–1990 for death threats, robbery, and violating probation; this experience convinced him to reduce his involvement in gang life.
On November 16, 1997, Bruce was arrested on an aggravated battery charge after allegedly striking an audience member thirty times with his microphone at a concert in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Bruce was held for four hours before being released on US$5,000 bail.
After a show in Indianapolis, Insane Clown Posse's tour bus stopped at a Waffle House in Greenfield, Indiana. When a customer began to harass Spaniolo and Bruce, a fight broke out between the customer and all of the bands' members. Months later on June 4, 1998, Bruce and Utsler pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct charges (reduced from battery) in an Indiana court and were fined US$200 each. Members of Twiztid, Myzery, and Psycho Realm were charged with battery.
On June 15, 2001, Bruce was arrested in Columbia, Missouri for an outstanding warrant in St. Louis stemming from an incident in February 2001. That incident involved Insane Clown Posse allegedly attacking employees of a St. Louis radio station over disparaging remarks that a disc jockey made on the air. The police used several squad cars to detain Bruce, Utsler, and two associates a few miles from a venue where the group had completed a concert. Bruce was transferred to St. Louis the following day and released on bail without charge on June 18. On February 6, 2002, Bruce plead guilty to two counts of misdemeanor assault in the second degree and was sentenced to 12 months' unsupervised probation.
At ICP's seminar at the Gathering of the Juggalos on August 21, 2021, Violent J told the juggalo family that he has been diagnosed with pretty severe heart problem called AFIB. 30 years in the business on high speed, Violent J now has to take a step back. He will not stop making music but the touring will be on a slower rate.
