Podcaster Brianna Chickenfry (real name Brianna LaPaglia) has said she was "blindsided" by her now ex-boyfriend and musician Zach Bryan's social media announcement that they'd broken up.
Brianna is known in part for co-hosting the BFFs podcast alongside controversial Barstool podcaster Dave Portnoy, and the podcast's YouTube description reads:
"The unlikely trio of Josh Richards, Dave Portnoy & Brianna Chickenfry team up to talk all things pop culture, celebrities, influencers & TikTok. You never know what to expect from this trio from breaking entertainment news to generational differences. They’re sure to make you laugh while keeping you up to date."
On Tuesday, Zach shared an Instagram Story – which has since expired – disclosing that he and Brianna had parted ways.
In the Story, he said:
"Addressing something: Brianna and me have broken up with (each other) and I respect and love her with every ounce of my heart. She has loved me unconditionally for a very long time and for that I'll always thank her."
Incidentally, Zach's Instagram comments were disabled on Tuesday, and remained disabled following the post.
Zach's post strongly implied that the decision was mutual and amicable, and he claimed that they'd "broken up with (each other)."
But Brianna's subsequent Instagram Story gave a completely different impression, and it genuinely sounded like she had no prior knowledge of this alleged joint decision to split:
"Hey guys, I'm feeling really blindsided right now. Gonna hop off social media for a while and attempt to heal privately, when I’m ready I’ll be back and ready to talk.
"I love you guys so much thank you for all of your kind words. Remember you are so loved and everything’s always gonna be okay[.]"
While Brianna predicted she'd be away from social media for "a while," she uploaded a video with more information to her YouTube channel on Tuesday, October 22:
In that video, Brianna was crying on the bathroom floor as she filled in some gaps in the story.
Brianna didn't expressly say that she had no idea about the breakup — but she described being surprised after waking up to an unusually high number of alarming "check-in texts."
Presumably, if she'd known about the breakup, waking up to missed calls and messages would not have surprised her or made her suspect something worse had happened, and she explained why she was caught off-guard:
"Um, yeah, I'm probably not going to post this for a little while, but I just woke up to, um, Zach posting on his Instagram that we broke up. And, um, I had no idea that post was going up.
"Uh, he didn't text me, he didn't call me, um, I just woke up to a bunch of texts, being like, 'are you okay,' and I'm like, did my f****' dad die? Um, and yeah, so I'm like, completely blindsided by that."
On or around October 22, screenshots from the invite only celebrity dating app Raya were shared on Reddit, and they appeared to depict a profile maintained by Zach Bryan.
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Dave Portnoy Dedicated A Taylor Swift Song To Brianna
Earlier this week, we reported on Dave Portnoy's purported note from Taylor Swift, and his broader interest in Taylor and the Eras Tour.
On Tuesday, as Brianna and Zach's respective Instagram posts were spreading, Dave weighed in on Twitter/X.
While Dave doesn't have the best track record when it comes to misogyny and women in general, he threw down with Brianna and dedicated a song from Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poet's Department to her:
A few commenters were unkind to Brianna, but one said: "We love you, Bri!!"
Dave made no mention of Zach Bryan, but he didn't need to.
His choice of song – "The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived" – made Dave's opinion on how Zach handled the breakup more than clear.
