Zach Bryan Vents at ‘Internet Sleuths’ Speculating About Dating Life After Brianna LaPaglia Split
Zach Bryan let out his frustration with the “sad and fat fingered internet sleuths” he said were attacking his friends online in a series of Instagram Stories posts. The messages also touched on his decision to step away from music and appeared to allude to the backlash spurred by his split with Brianna LaPaglia.
It’s unclear what exactly prompted the statements, but Bryan began by calling out, “all you fuckn weird couch warriors attacking and belittling my friends on the internet because you’re assuming I have a girlfriend.” He went on to insist he wasn’t looking for any sympathy himself but said that going after his friends was “so low and so messed up.”
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Bryan seemed particularly frustrated with the speculation over his dating life. “Apparently I’ve had four different girlfriends in like two weeks meanwhile my friends and me are just laughing and hanging out like we always have,” he wrote. “I don’t have a girlfriend and don’t plan on having a girlfriend however I do have normal friends that I love very much and would go to the ends of the earth for.”
Bryan and LaPaglia (a Barstool podcast host also known as Brianna Chickenfry) broke-up last fall, with the country singer announcing their split on Instagram. A few weeks later, LaPaglia shared her side of the story, accusing Bryan of emotional abuse and claiming she turned down his offer for $12 million to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
Bryan has yet to issue a direct public response to the allegations, but this new string of posts did appear to acknowledge some shifting attitudes towards him. “I am allowed to have love, laughter and good people in my life,” he wrote. “No matter how bad of a person you think I am, go ahead and come for me. I can take all the hatred because I’m not a child. But do not come for my friends who do nothing but love and care for me.”
Elsewhere, he wrote, “I love my life. I have worked REALLY hard for it. Whether you think I deserve it or not. Whether you think I suck or not.” And later he added, “I am so terrifyingly unphased by the fake shit people say about me online but coming for people I love and care for is my line and my final straw.”
Throughout the posts, Bryan tied these frustrations to his decision to step back from music after several incredibly busy years of touring and recording. “Everyone wonders why I quit touring and don’t want to be attached to music anymore, meanwhile you’re calling my friends ugly and harassing them?” he wrote. (Bryan said in November that he planned to stop touring so he could go do a masters program in Paris.)
Later, he said, “Everyone wants you to have fun and make great music but you guys are making it really hard to do that with my friends getting insulted and death threats everyday. Everyday I lose a little more faith in humanity and everyday I get closer to never being in the public’s eye again which is incredibly sad because I truly do really love humans being happy and joking around and laughing a lot.”
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