Zach Bryan has a history of stirring up controversy on social media with his playful, yet sometimes provocative statements. And this week was no different for the “Something in the Orange” singer.
At 10:47 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 17, the 28-year-old took to his X, formerly known as Twitter, account to settle a controversial debate.
He first showed a preference for the Philadelphia Eagles over the Kansas City Chiefs when he wrote, “eagles > chiefs,” which isn’t very controversial, but it’s what the next line read that has fans upset.
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“Kanye > Taylor… who’s with me,” the rest of the post reads, showing a preference for Kanye West, now known as Ye, over Taylor Swift. The two mega artists have been engaged in a 15-year public feud.
For those who don’t remember, the feud between Swift and West began in September 2009 when the rapper ambushed Swift’s acceptance speech for Video of the Year at the MTV Video Music Awards.
Zach Bryan posts explanation before deleting account
At 10:04 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 18, after nearly 12 hours of angry comments from fans, Bryan published a follow-up post explaining that he “drunkenly tweeted that about Kanye” the night before.
“If anyone took it serious please know I love both artists a lot and think we’re in a really beautiful time of music,” he wrote, adding that he tweeted it out while listening to Taylor’s hit song, “thanK you aIMee.”
For context, fans have speculated that the “thanK you aIMee” song is a diss track to either Ye or Kim Kardashian, who unleashed a series of accusations against Taylor Swift while married to Ye in 2017.
As of right now, Bryan’s X account has been deactivated, though many fans believe he’ll return soon.
Bryan continues to defend himself on Instagram
While Bryan appears to be taking a break from X, his Instagram account is still active. The country music singer took to his Instagram Story on Thursday, Sept. 19 to further explain his recent tweet.
“I wasn’t coming for Taylor the other night,” he explained. “I was drunkenly comparing two records and it came out wrong. I know there’s a lot of stuff that clouds around Ye and I was speaking purely musically.”
Still, he went on to talk about how much he loves Taylor’s music and asked for forgiveness because he’s “human” and can “tweet stupid things often,” adding that he hopes he can explain this to Taylor someday.
“Twitter gets me in trouble too much and I’d say it’s best I stay off it. I’m sorry to any Taylor fans I pissed off or let down. Love you guys and I’m trying my best,” he added, while promoting her song “Fortnight.”
Bryan says he has been going through a hard time
In a separate Instagram Story, this time promoting Taylor’s song “The Albatross,” Bryan explained how he has been “going through a hard time” in his life and feels the tweet was just him “projecting a little.”
“I respect her so much as a musician that the last thing I want is people thinking I don’t appreciate and love what she has done for music,” he wrote, while urging fans and followers to “Don’t drink and tweet.”
He ended his defense on this note:
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For the record, Bryan has shown support for both artists since his own career has taken off. While he does tend to get controversial on social media, most of his fans expressed their understanding.