Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia Accuses Ex-Boyfriend Zach Bryan of Emotional Abuse
Strained words come on out of a grown man’s mouth when his mind’s broke, but when a woman’s heart breaks…
The words can get pretty pointed.
And the public portion of Zach Bryan‘s breakup with Brianna LaPaglia had already begun on an inauspicious note, when she followed his Oct. 22 Instagram Story split statement with her own post noting that she was “feeling really blindsided” and needed to “hop off social media” while she healed.
The picture of what happened between them has only grown murkier since, with Brianna—who’s Brianna Chickenfry to her 2.1 million TikTok followers—hopping over to YouTube to share her feelings before taking that step back.
Not that the PlanBri Uncut podcast host’s decision to keep talking was out of character—or unwelcome to an online audience that always wants to know more.
When Brianna confirmed on her podcast in July 2023 that she was dating the country singer, she said it was basically a must-mention.
“Everyone on the Internet is FBI agents,” she told People a month later, “so they figured everything out and I was like, ‘I need to get ahead of it, I need to say what’s right, what’s real and what’s true,’ so I did it on my podcast.”
First item of business: Tell her listeners that both she and Zach were in respective relationships when they met at the 2023 ACM Awards in May, but they were both single by the time he slid into her DMs in late June.
“It’s fun, it’s casual,” Brianna said on the revelatory podcast, explaining that she “just wanted to address it because the whole Internet is freaking the f–k out and people are doing s-t.”
John Shearer/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
The pair chugged along, making their red carpet debut as a couple when Zach brought Brianna to the 2024 Grammys in February. The 28-year-old won for the first time in four nominations, Best Country Duo/Group Performance with Kacey Musgraves for “I Remember Everything.”
In May, Brianna shared that they’d been in “a traumatizing side-by-side car crash” while on the road during Zach’s The Quittin’ Time Tour, and that the singer needed stitches to close up “a huge gash.”
Soon after, he shared a sweet message for his girlfriend on Instagram Story, writing, “You’re my muse Brianna and I don’t understand how the hell you hold it together when people around you can’t. Thank you forever and always no matter what.” He called her “the most loving and supportive woman on the planet.”
Months later, however, he may have forgotten to check with her before he let the world know they were no longer together.
As Brianna’s public breakup postmortem continues, here’s a guide to how it’s all gone down:
YouTube/ Plan Bri Uncut
No News Yet
Breakup speculation was in full bloom after the Internet noticed fewer couple’s posts than usual from Zach Bryan and Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia, and commenters did not keep their suspicions to themselves.
“It was a bad week,” Brianna acknowledged on the Oct. 2 episode of Barstool Sports’ BFFs podcast when cohosts Dave Portnoy and Josh Richards quizzed her about the split rumors. “It’s crazy, we don’t post each other for a week, it took the Internet by storm. But he’s going through a lot of personal stuff and I went home and just separated—we’re together now and everything’s OK.”
Meanwhile, Zach was already on Dave’s naughty list for making a crack about Taylor Swift (that he apologized for), but the Barstool Sports founder and self-proclaimed “King of the Swifties” allowed him one pass because he was Brianna’s boyfriend.
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
Brianna LaPaglia Advises Not to Date Celebrities
Before it was publicly known that Brianna and Zach were no longer together, she advised against dating famous people during a sit-down on Haliey Welch‘s Talk Tuah podcast.
“I said on the BFFs [podcast] that I would never date anyone famous ever,” Brianna noted on the episode released Oct. 22, the same day the breakup news broke. “Literally never wanted to and then it kinda just happened.”
She didn’t know why she changed her tune, she admitted. But, Brianna continued, “I wish it… don’t date famous people.”
On that note, she explained, “I think it’s better for the mental to not date someone famous. It’s a lot.”
Instagram/Brianna LaPaglia
Brianna’s Cryptic Message Decoded
In an Oct. 21 Instagram post, Brianna had shared a photo of a handwritten note detailing some pretty intense feelings.
“And eventually you’ll find that life goes even if you dont want it to: The days will pass and the world will move while you ask it to stop,” the message read. “You’ll believe life is cruel for continuing on while your feet are stuck. You’ll find people and moments to blame for your concrete feet. Then there will come a morning when you wake and realize things go on, life isn’t cruel your feet are. The world keeps on spinning in hopes of showing you that you can as well.”
All was revealed the next day.
Instagram/Brianna LaPaglia
Brianna LaPaglia Says She’s “Blindsided” by Zach Bryan Breakup Reveal
Less than an hour after Zach’s Instagram Story went live Oct. 22, Brianna followed up with her own: “Hey guys I’m feeling really blindsided right now,” she wrote. “Gonna hop off social media for a while and attempt to heal privately, when I’m ready I’ll be back and ready to talk.”
She added, “I love you guys so much thank you for all of your kind words. Remember you are so loved and everything’s always gonna be OK.”
Plan Bri Uncut/YouTube
Brianna Felt “Discarded” by Zach Post-Split
Before the private healing commenced, Brianna said in an Oct. 22 YouTube video—recorded from the self-described “comfort” of her bathroom floor—that she had been “crying for like five days straight” when she woke up to Zach’s post and its aftermath.
“I had no idea that post was going up,” she said. “He didn’t text me, he didn’t call me. I just woke up to a bunch of texts being like, ‘Are you okay?’ and I’m like, ‘Did my f–king dad die?'”
Reiterating that she was blindsided, she continued, “How can you give every ounce of yourself to someone and then be discarded of in a few days? It’s really, really heartbreaking.”
She didn’t want to talk about it yet, Brianna added, but she would. “We broke up yesterday,” she added, “so I wasn’t ready to do anything publicly…I wanted to handle this as a human first.”
All she wanted at the moment, she said, was to “just be hurt for a week and lay in bed.”
Stacy Revere/Getty Images
Brianna’s Boss Has Her Back
In the wake of her speaking out about the breakup, Dave shared a YouTube link to Taylor’s “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” and dedicated it to Brianna.
That, in turn, was screenshotted by a friend who posted on Brianna’s Instagram Story on her behalf Oct 24, writing atop the pointed pic, “(Bris off socials but she gave me the green light for this) she’ll be back Wednesday for bffs. she is with friends and family. I’ve been screenshotting some of your kind words and sending them to her. She loves you.”
Todd Williamson/NBC via Getty Images
Brianna Sets Boundaries
Addressing speculation that there was a rift between her and PlanBri Uncut podcast cohost Grace O’Malley because she didn’t publicly wish her pal a happy birthday, Brianna returned to Instagram Story Oct. 30 to set a few things straight.
“Not allowing the internet to take over my personal relationships anymore,” Brianna wrote. “Need to set some boundaries and keep some things to myself.”
In a separate post, she wrote, “I’m not interested in sharing my personal relationships online anymore because the internet wants so badly to ruin them all. Grace has been like a sister since I was 15 years old. I wished her a happy birthday privately.”
Dave Portnoy/Instagram
Untortured Poets Department
BFFs hosts Dave and Josh found a creative outlet for their frustrations, releasing a diss track they called “Smallest Man.”
“I said trust me, caught your pants on fire,” began the song posted to YouTube Nov. 6. “Tinder, Bumble, Raya, knew you was a liar / You’re a douchebag, you just made a new rival / Pretty soon you going to need a revival.”
The track was initially blocked by Warner Music Group, citing copyright grounds, before resurfacing that same day.
In a post on X, Dave noted the temporary setback: “Zach Bryan and @warnermusic must have the worst crisis management execs in the world. Running around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to erase #smallestman from the internet. Did nobody tell them I run an internet company? They just guaranteed this thing hits #1.”
He and Josh had teased the track on Instagram Nov. 5, and when a commenter accused them of not being brave enough to tag Zach, Brianna waded in and replied, “We r all blocked.”
Christopher Polk/Variety via Getty Images
Alternate Route
After seemingly not acknowledging any of the conversation coming from Brianna’s corner, Zach picked Nov. 7 to release his song “High Road” and provide a status update.
He had visited his mother’s gravesite a few nights back for the first time in more than a year, he wrote on Instagram, noting he was in Tulsa.
“Told her I quit touring because I got accepted to get my masters in Paris next year,” he continued, “I told her I was back in Oklahoma, told her about all my best friends in New York and all the nights we howled with the moon, told her about the immeasurable laughter my band and me have shared these last five years, all the calluses on my finger tips, every tear shed, told her about making it on The Rolling Stone and most importantly told her about porch swinging with my beautiful sister.”
He added, “I wrote the chorus for this song a month or two back and finished it when I realized I was blessed with all these things. I figured it was about time I released it. Thank you guys for listening to ‘This Worlds a Giant’ last night and thank you to all the people who love me; who have truly carried the weight with me. Seems that all these Quiet Dreams have gotten much too heavy but I’m home now and I’ll hold you through the pain.”
Brianna LaPaglia/Instagram
Brianna Alleges Emotional Abuse
Brianna has alleged that her relationship with Zach was emotionally abusive.
“The last year of my life has been the hardest year of my life,” she told Dave and Josh on the Nov. 7 episode of BFFs. “Dealing with the abuse from this dude—I’m still scared right now.”
The 25-year-old said her brain had been “rewired” from being afraid to make her ex mad.
“He made me believe everything was my fault,” Brianna continued. “He isolated me from my whole entire life. He wouldn’t let me be who I wanted to be. He made me hate everything that I loved about myself.”
Zach had “love bombed her,” she said, and she ignored multiple red flags.
After four relatively smooth months, she said, he broke her down so that she felt “like he was all I had left, and he just kept repeatedly beating me down and beating me down.”
Brianna also alleged during the episode that Zach’s team offered her $12 million to sign an NDA and stay silent about their relationship.
While she didn’t want money that reminded her of her ex, Brianna said she didn’t decline just to be free to air their secrets either.
Rather, Brianna said, “I’m not signing away my experiences and what I went through to protect someone that hurt me.”
E! News reached out to Zach for comment but has not heard back.
After they recorded, Dave wrote on X, “I know people have lots of strong opinions on Bri but after tonight’s episode there can’t be anybody who doesn’t respect the s–t out of her.”
Brianna LaPaglia/Instagram
Mic Drop
“I knew I was making the right decision,” Brianna wrote on her Instagram Story Nov. 7 after the episode dropped. “And I believe not going all out and not telling everything was the right decision too. You get the picture.”
She continued, “Your messages have made me sob. I can’t believe how many women and men have experienced the same abuse. You have me, I’ll be a voice for you all always. If I can stand up to someone in power you can stand up to the bum from your hometown. This is all two weeks out so I’m still processing everything I went through. I’ll continued to process and heal with you all! I love you I love you I love you.”
A couple of hours later, she shared a video shot by an audience member at a stop on Barstool’s Chicks in the Office: Little Fall Getaway Tour during a live performance of “Smallest Man,” highlighting the lyric, “How lucky is Bri to be free of ZB.”
