Zach Bryan and Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia split in October and not on good terms. Social media and the entertainment industry are still feeling the aftershocks.
Bri “Chickenfry” stated on a Thursday episode of her podcast, PlanBri Uncut Barstool Sports, that Bryan is emotionally abusive, and when she was with him it was the worst year of her life. She felt like she had to compete with his idea of being famous, and he ruined everything good in her life by always making it about himself. LaPaglia claimed that she was scared of Bryan after the difficult split and that he offered her a 12 million dollar NDA to keep quiet about their relationship.
Collaborators on the podcast, Dave Portnoy and Josh Richards, have released two “diss tracks” titled, “Smallest Man (Daves Version)” and “Country Diddy.” They issued a statement saying that if you messed with anyone from “Barstool” you messed with all of them.
“Country Diddy” compares Zach Bryan to Sean “Diddy” Combs, who was arrested in September on charges of racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportations to engage in prostitution. Of Bryan, the song asserts, “You ruin peoples lives, then hand out NDA’s. I’m the one problem you can’t pay to go away,” and “All these NDAs you sound like Country Diddy.” Throughout the songs are more scathing disses aimed towards Bryan, with references to him having STDs, being an alcoholic, and lying about all the women in his music. In a reference to Bryan’s new song “This World’s a Giant,” which he released post-breakup about their relationship, Portney raps “Of course the World’s a Giant to the Smallest Man Alive.”
“Smallest Man,” another diss track by Porteny, also features Josh Richards. This diss is just as scathing as the previous one. The song opens up with “I said trust me, knew you were a liar, caught your pants on fire, Tinder, Bumble, Raya.” Referencing LaPaglia’s claim that she discovered ZB on a dating app just hours after them agreeing to keep the breakup private. They include a police tape of Bryan getting arrested. They also talk about him having an alcohol addiction, rapping “From the looks of all your tweets I’d say you have a booze problem. Such an alcoholic, alcohol has a you problem.” Richards raps that his “whole styles Morgan Wallen” and also “Tyler Childres, Copy Paste.” Some of Zach Bryan’s most famous songs consist of “Revival,” “Something in the Orange,” “You Remember Everything,” “Burn, Burn, Burn,” “Pink Skies,” “28,” and “Oklahoma Smokeshow,” which are all referenced in this song.
Bryan, however, has also made statements about last month’s split. He announced the breakup on his Instagram account saying:
“I respect and love her with every ounce of my heart. She has loved me unconditionally for a very long time and for that I’ll always thank her,” he said. “I have had an incredibly hard year personally and struggled through some pretty severe things. I thought it would be beneficial for both of us to go our different ways. I am not perfect and never will be. Please respect Brianna’s privacy and space in this and if you have it in your heart, mine too.”
In his two new songs, “High Road” and “This World’s a Giant,” he responds to some of the controversy. In “High Road” he calls out LaPagalia saying “Everyone is tellin’ me that I need help or therapy but all I need is to be left alone.” In “This World’s a Giant” he says “Be still, be quiet, this worlds a giant that I don’t feel like facing tonight.”
These two songs have the vibe of the older Zach Bryan Songs and have a weight about them of heartbrokenness. He seems to feel remorse over the relationship, however he has not come out confirming anything that LaPagila said. Right now he is just requesting to be left alone.
Most of us have experience with ugly breakups, but luckily we didn’t have the entire world watching and chiming in.
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