Zach Bryan is a crappy person and if we let him get away with his disgusting behaviour, we are just as bad.
Last month, American singer/songwriter Zach Bryan and his former girlfriend Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia called off their year long relationship. While the reasoning behind their split is still relatively murky, much of the internet has been quick to take LaPaglia’s side in the breakup and it’s not hard to see why.
It all started on Oct. 22 when Bryan posted an Instagram story announcing that he and LaPaglia had gone their separate ways. “Brianna and me [sic] have broken up with each other and I respect and love her with every ounce of my heart,” he said.
While many people assumed that the post implied a mutual split, LaPaglia responded to Bryan’s story in a short video posted on YouTube where she said that she “had no idea that post was going up,” and that she was “completely blindsided” by the breakup. While this action alone is incredibly telling about Bryan’s regard for his former partner, the story was only getting started.
Before the singer had even announced their split, his profile was spotted by multiple people on the celebrity dating app Raya, causing rumors to spiral online that Bryan was cheating on LaPaglia. On Oct. 22, TikTok user @sammysamslife posted a video on the topic, theorizing that the couple would soon announce their breakup. It was only hours later that Bryan announced it on his story. While some fans were relieved that the singer hadn’t cheated on LaPaglia, Bryan’s post still implied that the couple had only just separated, causing other fans to turn on him for activating his profile so soon after the breakup.
LaPaglia’s boss, David Portnoy, spoke about the situation on a recent episode of The Unnamed Show podcast, confirming this quick turn around by saying that Bryan was back on the app before “the body was even cold.”
It was soon after this that the internet began to take LaPaglia’s side. Bryan showed a complete lack of consideration for LaPaglia when he publicly announced their breakup without letting her know. Furthermore, it seems that Bryan didn’t truly love and respect LaPaglia with “every ounce of [his] heart,” because he was on Raya almost immediately after their breakup. These things should be enough to convince any sane person that Bryan is a walking red flag, but Bryan has a terrible track record with relationships to begin with.
Not much is known about any of his partners in his early life, but when he rose to fame in 2020, Bryan was serving in the U.S. Navy and was married to naval aviator Rose Madden. Their marriage only lasted a year, and very little is known about why they filed for divorce. The story that has been circulating online for years is that Bryan cheated on Madden while she was deployed and then mailed the divorce papers to her, though this has yet to be confirmed by anyone involved.
Following his split from Madden, Bryan quickly started dating Deb Peifer, an education program coordinator. This relationship ended rather quickly too, with the couple only being together for a year before they went separate ways. In the same way that little is known about his split from Madden, crucial details of what went wrong between Bryan and Peifer have also remained hidden.
The common denominator in both stories is that once Bryan had broken up with them, Madden and Peifer never spoke publicly about the relationship again. While at first this might not seem like anything sinister, LaPaglia has provided a different perspective on both women’s silence that makes it clear that Bryan is truly a despicable person.
On a recent episode of the BFFs podcast, of which she is a host, LaPaglia claimed that Bryan had offered her $12 million and an apartment in New York if she signed an NDA about their relationship. Bryan’s team had told LaPaglia she would be given a lump sum payment, as well as more money paid to her in installments throughout the next three years. While she refused this supposed offer, saying that it was beneath her, she claims that Bryan made his other girlfriends sign NDAs too. “He made the women before me believe that they had no other choice than to take money from [him], sign their experiences away, sign what they went through away,” LaPaglia said.
“I did not accept any money,” LaPaglia said. “I will not accept any money… I don’t think you can pay people off that you hurt for them to protect you. I think that in itself, offering millions of dollars to this apparent beautiful relationship to keep it a secret speaks volumes.”
The internet has lit itself aflame following this claim, trashing on Bryan for his mistreatment of not just LaPaglia, but Madden and Peifer too. It’s very easy to see why. While being an inconsiderate cheater is awful, being an inconsiderate cheater who offers your ex-girlfriend $12 million to keep quiet about how awful you are is even worse. Finding even an inch of redeemability in Bryan gets even harder as the episode continues.
LaPaglia went on to highlight various periods throughout their relationship when Bryan had been abusive towards her. One took place at the Golden Globes, when Bryan “ruined” her experience because he didn’t like her dress, stating that “he didn’t want to date someone that presents themselves that way.”
She also detailed another incident when Bryan allegedly yelled at her friends after she had gone to bed.
“I look outside, and I have my aunt trying to control Zach,” said LaPaglia. “There’s a recording of all of this that can never be out — basically Zach stood up at the fire and he just starts screaming at my friends… [saying] ‘You’re not going to be anything, you’re a [expletive] loser.’ Just the most horrible [expletive]. It was just crazy, completely out of nowhere…When Zach gets in that zone, there’s no containing it.”
She also claimed that Bryan smashed her phone after he threw it at a wall.
“[After the relationship] I don’t even recognize myself anymore. I lost 15 pounds…I didn’t sleep. I was completely isolated from my family, from my friends, from work. He just took me out of my life,” LaPaglia said. “It was awful, and I stayed because I was stuck, and I loved the dude.”
Personally, I believe that Zach Bryan is completely unredeemable, and it seems that much of the internet feels the same way too. The abuse of women by celebrity men isn’t taken seriously enough, especially when they speak out about their story.
Just recently, Maya Henry has found herself targeted with an endless stream of hate following the death of her former partner Liam Payne. Many fans have blamed his passing despite her speaking out about the alleged abuse she suffered at his hands just months before he died.
While it is unlikely that LaPaglia has survived this breakup without any hate at all, it has been nice to see a good portion of internet taking her side and supporting her through what is likely a very difficult period in her life.
Still, what’s baffling is the high likelihood that Bryan’s image and his career will recover from this scandal completely. After a few months, the singer will release new music and all will be forgiven. This is how it goes for famous men who build their careers off the backs of the women that they hurt. And where will the justice for LaPaglia, Peifer and Madden be then, when they turn on the radio and hear another Zach Bryan hit that was written about them? Where is the justice for the millions of women who have lived through the same thing?
It’s not enough to acknowledge that Zach Bryan is a bad person. You have to make him feel it, so that he can never do this to someone else ever again.