celebrity breakups

Zach Bryan ‘Blindsided’ Brianna Chickenfry With Breakup Announcement

66th GRAMMY Awards - Red Carpet
Photo: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

Country singer and sometimes-poet Zach Bryan has been banished to the doghouse after his ex-girlfriend claimed she was “blindsided” by his breakup announcement. Per Us Weekly, Bryan had been dating Barstool podcaster Brianna Chickenfry (née LaPaglia) for a little over a year when he posted an Instagram story on Tuesday revealing they’d 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,” the 28-year-old wrote. That’s nice enough! Except LaPaglia doesn’t see it that way. Hours after Bryan’s announcement, the influencer posted her own recounting of events in a teary YouTube video titled, “Love you guys, I’ll be back soon.”

According to LaPaglia’s version of things, the couple parted ways on Monday. She claims that twenty-four hours later, Bryan made the news public without consulting or notifying her. “I wanted to just, like, be hurt for a week and, like, lay in bed, you know?” LaPaglia said in the video, adding that she felt “blindsided.” The 25-year-old then shared her version of events on Instagram, writing that she was “feeling really blindsided” and would be taking a break from social media to “attempt to heal privately.”

Meanwhile, a report from Us Weekly suggests that the breakup wasn’t as amicable as Bryan portrayed it to be with a source claiming that Bryan had been on dating apps and was “dating around while they had been in a committed relationship.” While the source said Bryan has denied cheating, they said, “Someone sent her Zach’s Raya profile and girls were reaching out about him dating around.” The source added, “They had just moved in together in the spring, and she changed her whole life to accommodate his … She’s devastated.”

Wishing LaPaglia peace and tranquility during her social-media cleanse! In the meantime, I imagine it’s comforting to know that her BFFs podcast co-host and VIP Swiftie Dave Portnoy is already trolling Bryan on X, dedicating Taylor Swift’s “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” to the singer.

Brianna Chickenfry Says She Was ‘Blindsided’ By Zach Bryan