Amidst his rising fame, 28-year-old country artist Zach Bryan is now at the center of controversy, facing allegations of emotional abuse from his ex-girlfriend, the popular social media figure Brianna Lapaglia, better known as Brianna Chickenfry.
The couple started dating in May 2023 after meeting at the Academy of Country Music Awards. Brianna felt they connected unusually quickly, and they maintained a high-profile relationship for about a year and a half. From an outside perspective, they seemed perfect together. Bryan purchased a house in Brianna’s hometown, where they planned to start a family. She also joined him for numerous shows on his Quittin’ Time tour and accompanied him to award shows.
The unexpected breakup announcement in October was shocking for fans. Bryan shared this news publicly through a post on Instagram, where he mentioned that he has had an “incredibly hard year” and believed it would be “beneficial” for both of them to separate. Brianna also posted an Instagram story, expressing that she felt “really blindsided” and that she had decided to take a break from social media to heal privately.
However, her break didn’t last long. On November 7th, she uploaded an episode of her podcast, BFFs, which she co-hosts with Dave Portnoy and Josh Richards. The episode was an eye-opening and emotional discussion in which Brianna shared her experiences with the narcissistic abuse she had endured from the country singer throughout their time together and the ways in which it is still affecting her.
Brianna made a shocking claim that Bryan had offered her $12 million to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) in exchange for her to remain silent about their relationship. According to her, Bryan has proposed similar agreements to his previous romantic partners. The money didn’t matter to her though, as she refused to take the deal and sit in silence for years while fans fawn over her abuser. Her desire to share her experience with emotional abuse and shed light on the issue outweighed any amount of money a man had to offer. Brianna has described her decision as empowering and has strongly stated that she is sharing her story in hopes of helping those who are dealing with similar abuse to get away from the relationship.
Brianna warned that Bryan would try to control the narrative and paint himself as the victim. Funnily enough, he began to post cryptic Instagram apologies saying he “failed himself” and those around him. Then, he announced that he would be ending his tour early with plans to pursue his master’s degree in Paris. Along with this, he began to drop new singles, which fans have speculated are about the breakup.
Her co-hosts Dave and Josh added fuel to the fire when they released a diss track against the singer. The diss track titled Smallest Man is a reference to both the Taylor Swift song, The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived, and Zach Bryan’s height. Throughout the diss, the two use song titles from Zach Bryan’s own songs to mock his character. The original version with the music video has since been removed from YouTube, but not from the internet. Additionally, another diss track about Bryan called Country Diddy has been uploaded to the BFFs YouTube channel.
The situation is currently unfolding, with daily updates appearing on social media. Both sides have their fair share of supporters. It is uncertain whether Zach Bryan will address the accusations directly, but for now, things are not looking favorable for him.
