This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s summer editorial intern Jordyn Centerwall. Find her on Instagram at @jordyncenterwall. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
Every couple of months Zach Bryan seems to be in the middle of a new controversy on the internet. The Grammy-winning country music star is known for his somber love songs and lyricism. He’s also known for the scandals that constantly seem to surround him. I like some of Bryan’s music, and while it can be complicated to support musicians who have controversial personal lives I was baffled when I started hearing that he has a horde of haters.
People seem to take issue with him for multiple reasons. Some just aren’t fans of his music or dislike how he handles his relationships, but others seem to dislike him as a person based on what they see on the internet. Is Zach Bryan married? Is he in a relationship currently? And what latest scandal has he found himself in? All these questions and more seem to factor into peoples’ opinions of the musician.
Relationships
One of the first things that comes up when you Google the singer are queries about Zach Bryan’s dating history. “Is Zach Bryan married?” being at the top. While he has plenty of classic feel-good country hits, most of his more popular songs are bittersweet and about love. At this point, he has been involved in three known relationships since before his music career took off in 2020.
Rose Madden
So is Zach Bryan married? He was. Bryan was married to Rose Madden for less than a year after the two met while serving in the Navy. Many of Bryan’s earliest songs have been rumored to be about Madden with his second album, Elizabeth, being titled after her middle name. There are some creators on TikTok who have alleged that Bryan cheated and sent Madden divorce papers while she was deployed for service. This has not been confirmed by Madden or Bryan.
Deb Peifer
Shortly after Bryan divorced Madden, he started dating education program coordinator, Deb Peifer. The two dated for over a year before splitting. The breakup was announced by Bryan as being mutual. Peifer has said very little on the matter focusing instead on how she took lots of time for herself before jumping back into a new relationship.
Brianna LaPaglia
Bryan’s most recent girlfriend, Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia is a podcaster on Barstool’s BFFs podcast. The two met at an award show before reconnecting later when they were both out of relationships. Their relationship lasted a little over a year after officially announcing it in July 2023. News of their split came just weeks ago, and the fallout is still taking place. According to LaPaglia, she was completely blindsided by him his public announcement of their breakup on social media, insinuating that she didn’t know the news would be made public yet. Hours after his announcement, people found him on the dating app, Raya.
His Music
Not every artist’s music is going to be your cup of tea and that’s okay. I’m always shocked though when the word “hate” comes into play. Bryan’s music has made him wildly successful and has been backed up by awards, tours, and streams across platforms. Some haven’t been swayed by his melancholic tenor. The biggest critiques that circulate are how similar a lot of his songs sound. Others have pointed out the quality of the sound on his tracks that comes as a result of recording a lot of his vocals on a phone.
Arrest and Other Scandals
In 2023, Bryan was arrested in Oklahoma following his bodyguard getting pulled over. Bryan also pulled over and got out of his car. The officer apparently asked Bryan to step back into his car and when he refused, the incident escalated and ended with Bryan being booked. The singer later apologized via social media.
Bryan has also gotten into quite a bit of trouble on social media through what he owned up to as “drunk tweeting.” In one such tweet, he compared Kanye West and Taylor Swift, declaring that the rapper was better than the pop artist. This message generated a lot of hate given West’s problematic personal life and his past beef with Swift. Bryan ended up deleting his X account shortly after and posted a video apologizing and clarifying that he had the utmost respect for Swift and her music.
The Latest Scandal
It was a big week for Zach Bryan scandal. On Wednesday, LaPaglia’s BFFs podcast co-hosts, Josh Richards and Barstool founder, Dave Portnoy, dropped a diss track. The track called “Smallest Man” has already been removed from the internet, but videos persist on TikTok, X, and other social media platforms. The song made reference to Bryan’s infidelity in his marriage, made jabs at his appearance, and even included sound bites from the dash cam when he was arrested. This is not the first time LaPaglia’s co-hosts have spoken out in support of her. Portnoy had previously called out Bryan for his childish behavior when LaPaglia commented that another man was attractive in a Golden Globes interview. The end of the song declared that a new episode of the BFFs podcast would be released the next day.
According to the BFFs podcast episode released Thursday, LaPaglia shared that after Bryan announced their split, his team approached her about signing an NDA. She claims she was offered $12 million to be paid out over the course of a handful of years in exchange for refusing to share details about her and Bryan’s relationship. LaPaglia said that she turned down the money. She also insinuated that she was not the only one of Bryan’s flames to have received such a proposal. Many fans of BFFs as well as Bryan have jumped to social media to defend or show support for one side or the other. Bryan in turn released two songs while the episode was premiering.
What do you think about Zach Bryan? Let us know in the comments!
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