Zach Bryan and Brianna Chickenfry Breakup / Zach Bryan Abuse Allegations
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Overview
The Zach Bryan and Brianna Chickenfry Breakup, also known as Zach Bryan Abuse Allegations, refers to drama and feuding between country musician Zach Bryan and his ex-girlfriend Brianna Chickenfry, a Barstool Sports host, resulting in Chickenfry alleging that Bryan was emotionally abusive to her. The couple confirmed their relationship in July 2023 and Bryan announced their breakup in October 2024, purportedly blindsiding Chickenfry by not telling her he was going to announce it. In early November 2024, Chickenfry, Barstool founder Dave Portnoy and social media personality Josh Richards, all of who co-host the BFFs podcast, released a diss track about Bryan. Shortly after, Chickenfry made several accusations about Bryan during an episode of the podcast, claiming he tried to pay her $12 million to stay quiet about their relationship and that he was emotionally abusive throughout.
Background
According to People's[1] relationship timeline, Zach Bryan and Brianna Chickenfry met in May 2023 at the Academy of Country Music Awards and confirmed their relationship on July 28th of that year during an episode of Chickenfry's podcast, Plan Bri Uncut.
On October 22nd, 2024, Bryan announced that he and Chickenfry had broken up through an Instagram Story post.[2] In the post, he writes that they broke up with each other and asks people to respect Chickenfry's privacy.
Developments
On October 22nd, 2024, shortly after Bryan's Story post, Chickenfry made an Instagram Story post writing that she was "blindsided" by the announcement, suggesting Bryan did not tell her he was going to make it public.
That same day, Chickenfry released a video on her YouTube[3] channel titled "Love you guys, I’ll be back soon" in which she cries about the breakup and says Bryan "discarded" her. She claims she's not ready to talk about it and that she needs to "heal privately," saying she wasn't ready to announce the breakup yet. The video gained over 839,000 views in two weeks.
"Smallest Man" Diss Track
On November 5th, 2024, the BFFsPod Instagram[4] page posted the album cover for a diss track by Dave Portnoy and Josh Richards about Bryan titled "Smallest Man," announcing its release at midnight. Chickenfry responded to commenters under the post claiming that they were cowardly for not tagging Bryan, claiming that they were all blocked by him.[5]
The one about Lego head called Smallest man by Dave Portnoy pic.twitter.com/jBK04vPR5M
— JP Losman (@JPLosmanQB7) November 6, 2024
The song was removed from YouTube on November 6th due to a copyright claim. That day, Portnoy posted a video on X[6] responding to the takedown. According to Portnoy, the song was removed because Richards has an old contract with Warner Music, Bryan's label, suggesting Warner removed it to keep people from hearing it.
Another twist in the smallest man diss track saga #davesversion pic.twitter.com/jdpTjPfUiu
— BFFs (@BFFsPod) November 7, 2024
BFFs Podcast Episode / Allegations Of Emotional Abuse
On November 7th, 2024, the BFFs Podcast YouTube[7] channel posted an episode of their podcast titled "BRIANNA CHICKENFRY TALKS ZACH BRYAN RELATIONSHIP & BREAKUP," garnering over 1.3 million views in a day.
The episode begins with a clip of Chickenfry explaining that Bryan offered her "millions" of dollars to not talk about the breakup with Bryan. She says she refused, calling it "beneath" her. She talks about going on Bryan's tour with him and how she stopped going on tour with him during the last leg, but that she was happy with it.
Chickenfry started going on her own tour, but Bryan never showed up to support her despite saying he would previously. He then suddenly broke up with her when she had only a few tour stops left. After their tours ended, Chickenfry claims Bryan asked her to move out fast. She was confused about the situation, noting how the two talked about marriage and having kids regularly.
A few days after the breakup and move-out, she claims he called her and wanted her to come back. She returned to Bryan but he never apologized to her. She says that "a lot of horrible shit" happened one night in Boston between them. She describes not knowing "what version" of Bryan she was getting on any given day.
Bryan returned to Oklahoma without giving Chickenfry closure. She claims Bryan got back on the dating app Raya the day they officially broke up. She called him about it and he said he didn't "create" a Raya, just "reactivated" his Raya. The next day she woke up to the Instagram Story announcement.
Portnoy, Richards and Chickenfry then talk about how they all had talks prior to her refusing the money about what she should have done, ultimately deciding to "go to war" with Bryan. Chickenfry goes on to talk about Bryan emotionally abusing her, saying he "rewired" her brain and that she's still scared of making him mad. She says he made her believe everything wrong with their relationship was her fault and that he "isolated" her from her life. She also claims he talked badly about Barstool and Chickenfry's co-workers.
She tells a story about posting photos wearing a dress that Bryan thought was too revealing at the Golden Globes, causing him to lash out at her and make her delete them. She continues to talk about the ways he emotionally abused her, including accusations that he "love bombed" her when they'd get in fights. She shares a text message between herself and Bryan where he talks badly about Portnoy and her job.
