Zach Bryan Speaks Out After Tweet Shading Taylor Swift Sparks Immediate Backlash

Country star Zach Bryan apologized in a series of Instagram stories after pop star Taylor Swift's fans turned on him for a now-deleted post he made on X, formerly Twitter, picking rapper Ye over Swift.

On Wednesday, Bryan shared a message that started with “eagles > chiefs"—indicating he prefers the Philadelphia Eagles over the Kansas City Chiefs, the NFL team Swift's boyfriend Travis Kelce plays on—followed by, “Kanye > Taylor.” His post concluded with "who's with me."

You can see his post below.

@zachlanebryan/X

Bryan's mention of Ye and Swift was a reference to an incident involving Ye and Swift during the 2009 Video Music Awards.

The ceremony took a turn when Ye interrupted Swift during her acceptance of the Best Female Video award, declaring that Beyoncé's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" was "one of the best videos of all time" despite Swift's win.

Later, when Beyoncé won Video of the Year, she recalled her own first VMA win with Destiny's Child and graciously invited Swift back on stage to complete her speech. The incident garnered significant media attention.

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The backlash against Bryan's post was harsh enough for him to leave X and he later posted the following apology to his Instagram Stories:

"For the record guys I wasn't coming for Taylor Swift the other night. 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. I love Taylor's music and pray you guys know I'm human and tweet stupid things often."

"Hope one day I can explain this to her. 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!"

"I've been going through a hard time in my own life and I think I was projecting a little. To be honest, it just came off rude and desensitized to Taylor. 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's done for music."

"Okay that's the last of it! Love you guys and hope you understand. Don't drink and tweet! Don't drink and tweet!!"

In a follow-up post, he noted he was listening to her song "Castles Crumbling" and wrote:

“Not saving face here, but Taylor has been a force of nature for as long as we’ve all been growing up and I admire that. I’m gonna go listen to this record now. I never want people to think I have a hint of malice or meanness towards anyone, ever, that’s why I’m saying all this. Everyone have the best day of all time, I love ya.”

You can see what he said below.

@zachlanebryan/Instagram

@zachlanebryan/Instagram

@zachlanebryan/Instagram

His post received a negative response.

Bryan sparked debate on X earlier this week by expressing a preference for musicians staying out of politics, contrasting with Swift’s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris for president. Bryan stated that those "willing to put politics above music don’t get the point of listening to music."

This week, Bryan and Swift both remain in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 album chart, with The Tortured Poets Department at No. 5 after 21 weeks and Bryan’s The Great American Bar Scene at No. 7 after 11 weeks.

Meanwhile, Ye’s latest release, Vultures 2, a collaboration with Ty Dolla Sign, has dropped out of the Billboard 200 after six weeks.