The Zach Bryan and Brianna LaPaglia Split Gets Even Messier

Brianna Chickenfry has released merch to commemorate the breakup of the century.

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Dec 18, 2024 - 21:00
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The Zach Bryan and Brianna LaPaglia Split Gets Even Messier
Photo: Gilbert Flores/Billboard via Getty Images

Grammy-winning country star Zach Bryan and podcaster/influencer Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia have broken up after more than a year of dating, but the relationship drama is only just getting started and no one can look away. What started as a passive breakup announcement has morphed into an extremely public breakup, with serious accusations of abuse and more than one diss track.

On October 22, Bryan wrote in an Instagram Story that he has “had an incredibly hard year personally and struggled through some pretty severe things,” explaining that he “thought it would be beneficial for both of us to go our different ways.” But in a YouTube video posted later that day, LaPaglia said the relationship had ended only just the day before and claimed that Bryan didn’t call or text her to give her a heads-up that he was going to make the news public. “I wanted to just, like, be hurt for a week and, like, lay in bed, you know?” she said, adding that she was feeling “blindsided,” having not had the chance to inform her family or close friends of the breakup prior to Bryan’s announcement. LaPaglia later opened up more about that “hurt,” including allegations that Bryan offered her $12 million to sign an NDA and not talk about their relationship publicly. Clearly, that didn’t happen.

Below, what to know, including how this couple met, the ensuing diss track done by Chickenfry’s BFFs, Bryan’s own response song, everything she’s said on the podcast, and the merch she’s dropped to commemorate the breakup of the century.

First of all, who are these people?

Bryan is a 28-year-old country singer-songwriter who released his fifth album, The Great American Bar Scene, in July 2024. You might also recognize him from pissing off a bunch of Swifties last month by comparing her to Kanye West in what he said was a drunk tweet about their discography.

LaPaglia, known online as Brianna Chickenfry because of a viral Vine, is an influencer and Barstool Sports podcaster. The 25-year-old co-hosts the BFFs podcast with TikTok influencer Josh Richards and Barstool founder Dave Portnoy. She built her own personal brand by hosting college parties, appearing at various events (like Zach Bryan’s show) and slinging merch that say stuff like “Sleep When You’re Dead.” She also co-hosts the Plan Bri Uncut podcast (also on the Barstool network) with her longtime best friend, Grace O’Malley. However, the show has not posted an episode since October 10, preceding the breakup, which has caused fans to speculate that their friend falling out is related to the allegations LaPaglia has shared about her ex.

How did Zach Bryan and Brianna LaPaglia meet?

Bryan and LaPaglia met at the Academy of Country Music Awards in May 2023. She later attended one of his concerts and was invited onstage alongside her other BFFs co-host, Josh Richards. That June, LaPaglia’s Plan Bri Uncut podcast released an episode titled “Eat the Rich (Besides Zach Bryan).” Bryan slid into her DMs afterward and they started “chatting,” LaPaglia later recalled. She officially confirmed the relationship in July.

The start of their relationship has long been the source of cheating allegations from fans, stemming from the fact that they were both in relationships at the time they first met. LaPaglia has repeatedly denied the allegations.

Why did they break up?

Bryan announced the split via Instagram Story on October 22, but did not directly share a reason. His statement expressed “love and respect” for LaPaglia and suggested that he is “not perfect,” adding that he is sorry to anyone he let down. “I failed people that love me and mostly myself,” he concluded.

In an October 22 YouTube video titled “Love you guys, I’ll be back soon,” she noted that the breakup happened on October 21. LaPaglia, who said she had been “crying for, like, five days,” questioned through tears how you can love someone “unconditionally, through stuff that you shouldn’t,” and then “be discarded of in a few days.” She added that she would share the details of what happened later; in an Instagram Story, she similarly said that she would “hop off social media for a while and attempt to heal privately,” then return once she’s “ready to talk.”

When did the break up become the most talked about thing on the internet?

That would be thanks to the diss track by LaPaglia’s BFFs co-hosts Dave Portnoy and Richards, released midnight on Election Day. As if there wasn’t enough going on that night. The song, “Smallest Man,” includes lyrics attacking Bryan’s cheating, height, hairline, and alleged track record of spreading STIs to past sexual partners. But by November 6, the track had disappeared from YouTube and Spotify. Barstool Sports alleges that Bryan and Warner Music had the song taken down via DMCA Copyright claim. “I said trust me, caught your pants on fire / Tinder, Bumble, Raya, knew you was a liar,” they sing-rap.

After “Smallest Man” was removed from streaming platforms, Portnoy released a follow-up diss track, “Country Diddy,” which seemingly draws a comparison between Bryan and the disgraced rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, recently indicted on racketeering and sex-trafficking charges. The song makes several references to the $12 million NDA that Bryan allegedly offered LaPaglia in exchange for her silence on the issue of their relationship and breakup (the song claims the total to be $13 million). “Offered Bri $13 mil just to shut her trap / Then she turned around and said ‘shove it up your ass,’” he raps. One lyric also suggests that Bryan’s lawyers took aim at Portnoy himself, “Buttercup really thought that he could shut me up / Someone tell your cheap lawyers I don’t give a fuck.”

Did Zach Bryan respond with his own diss track?

He did drop a new song, but, despite the baiting, it wasn’t a diss track. On November 7, the day after “Smallest Man” dropped, Bryan released a new song, called “This World’s a Giant,” which seemed to reference the breakup. Bryan opted for a sad and introspective track with lyrics like: “I’ll say sorry to God for all the trouble I caused,” he sings. “Maybe that’s a good place for me to start.” He calls himself “childish” when singing about wanting to start a family.

Okay, so what tea was spilled on the BFF podcast?

“I was approached by [Bryan’s] team and I was offered a lot of money,” LaPaglia explained in an unaired clip originally intended to be included in last week’s episode, where she shares she was reportedly offered a payout from Bryan’s lawyer for signing an NDA. “I would’ve had to sign all of my experiences, everything that I am away to this person and they would’ve been monitoring everything that I do.” Later on in the podcast, it is revealed that the final offer was $12 million dollar and that she ultimately decided to decline the offer.

LaPaglia, Portnoy, and Richards all detail their involvement in the decision to turn down Bryan’s offer, even suggesting that the NDA was broad enough in scope to include the silence of Portnoy, Richards, and other Barstool staff. This detail in particular threw a wrench in not just LaPaglia’s future at Barstool, but the BFFs podcast itself. Portnoy revealed that he had been planning to leave the podcast at the end of the year, but a moratorium on any discussion of Bryan or the breakup might mean an accelerated timeline, “My plan at the end of the year was to been to be done with BFFs. Just because I’m getting older, nearing 50, talking about teenage drama a little out of my wheelhouse … This part came up and complicated the whole thing a little bit,” he said, adding, “one thing about me is I can’t know shit. I can’t know it and not say it, so I can’t go back on the pod … it’s really hard to go along with this podcast and pretend this didn’t happen.”

LaPaglia went on to claim that throughout their relationship, Bryan was emotionally abusive towards her; she remembered how he would “smash” her phone and claimed that when she attended the Golden Globes as his date, he didn’t approve of her dress and then unfollowed her on social media. “Anything good I did for me, he made sure to ruin it for me,” LaPaglia asserted. She also claims that during her birthday, he was screaming at her friends and made them cry — the friends reportedly recorded the whole altercation. LaPaglia further detailed that Bryan tried to convince her to quit her job at Barstool, claiming that during LaPaglia’s contract renegotiation, Bryan offered to double Barstool’s offer in exchange for her to quit. “He twisted it in my head where he would be like, ‘You’re better than this. You’re better than Barstool. You’re destined for so much more.’ He made me believe maybe I should leave Barstool.”

How are Morgan Wallen, Noah Kahan, and Miss Peaches involved?

In a particularly harrowing anecdote, LaPaglia details a fight that was triggered by her singing the refrain from Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” in their shared home. Bryan reportedly blew up at her for singing “another man’s song under [his] roof,” resulting in a fight that lasted a week, according to LaPaglia.

LaPaglia also confirmed the internet rumor that Bryan was supposed to be the special guest at Noah Kahan’s Fenway Park concert but was too drunk to perform and canceled at the last minute. Portnoy also let it slip that Bryan removed his dog, Miss Peaches, an internet celebrity in her own right, from their dressing room after agreeing to let the dog stay. What did the dog do, Bryan? At least try to explain that.

Was Bryan at least faithful in the relationship?

The day before the split was confirmed, a Reddit user claimed that Bryan had popped up on the members-only dating app Raya. Given the timeline outlined by LaPaglia, the internet has been busy riffing off of the possibility that Bryan began swiping immediately after the breakup. Meanwhile, an unnamed source has claimed to Us Weekly that the singer was actually on dating apps during their relationship and that someone sent LaPaglia his Raya profile. According to the source, Bryan denied allegations of infidelity but agreed they should break up.

According to her TikTok, despite the opportunity, LaPaglia remained faithful to Bryan. “Fun fact my biggest celeb crush tried to slide a few months ago but of course I denied bc I had a bf and I was getting cheated on the whole time hahhahahahahah,” LaPaglia shared in a video caption. She also claims the two were close to getting engaged: “Been finding out he was cheating the whole time lol. The week he showed me my engagement ring he was DMing girls hahahahha.” At least she has tickets to the Eras Tour.

What’s next for each of the exes?

LaPaglia appears to have firmly reestablished her loyalties with Barstool and will presumably be refocusing on her career in the near term while she heals from the breakup. When asked about the status of her relationship with Plan Bri Uncut co-host Grace O’Malley, LaPaglia remained vague. “Me and Grace will always be fine,” she said. It’s unclear when or if their podcast will return.

Bryan, for his part, has been posting through it. He recently announced new dates along the West Coast for his long-running Quittin’ Time tour, which started back in March and played a not-insignificant role in the demise of his relationship with LaPaglia. In a recent Instagram post, he claims to have decided to quit touring in order to pursue a master’s degree in Paris next year.

How have the exes monetized this breakup?

Besides streaming residuals for the various diss tracks, Brianna Chickenfry has collaborated with Boys Lie on a breakup-themed clothing line. So if you want to remember this time forever, you can buy a “Fuck your money” hockey jersey, or some realtree camo joggers emblazoned with “How lucky are we?” a phrase Chickenfry says she coined and Bryan co-opted for a song.

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