It’s only been a week since The great American bar scene singer zach bryan announced his separation from best friends podcaster Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia, and if that word scramble means nothing to you, buckle up. The year-long relationship between the Grammy Award-winning country artist and Barstool The podcast host may be over, but the Internet’s interest in their surprising relationship certainly isn’t.

Much of the drama surrounding Bryan and LaPaglia’s breakup comes from intense fan scrutiny that began long before the two confirmed their relationship. first of all. Fans of the couple first learned of the breakup when LaPaglia posted a mysterious handwritten note on her Instagram grid, which read, “Life goes on even if you don’t want it to.” Bryan then officially announced the breakup on his Instagram Story, asking fans to respect his privacy. “Brianna and I have broken up and I respect and love her with every ounce of my heart,” he wrote. “She has loved me unconditionally for a long time and for that I will always be grateful. Personally, I’ve had an incredibly difficult year and have had to overcome some pretty serious things. I thought it would be beneficial for both of us to follow different paths. I am not perfect and I never will be. With everything I am and anyone I let down, I’m sorry. I do the best I can in everything. “I failed the people who love me and mainly myself.” While the statement implied a mutual split, LaPaglia said she was surprised by the public announcement and would be taking a break from social media. “I had no idea that post was going to go up,” she said in a short video posted to YouTube, and eventually cried. “I’m completely surprised by that.”

The back story

So why are people so interested in the first place? Bryan, 28, is best known as one of the rising country music stars. After going viral in 2019 with a grainy video singing his original song “Heading South,” the singer quickly became a staple of the genre and ultimately took home the Grammy for Best Country Duo/Group Performance in 2024 for his duet “I Remember Everything” with Kacey Musgraves. Their fourth self-titled album reached number one on the chart Billboard 200, and this month he appeared on the cover of rolling stoneannual edition of Musicians on Musicians with composition legend Bruce Springsteen. LaPaglia, for his part, began his online career with Vine (the now-defunct video app), where he first went viral by comparing his leg to a fried chicken from Burger King. After interning at Barstool, she became a host on the show best friends podcast together jose richards and founder of Barstool David Portnoy. LaPaglia is best known for her comedic takes on dating and working after college, and hosts her own podcast called PlanBri without cuts.

LaPaglia and Byran surprised fans when they were first linked at the 2023 American Music Awards in May, where the two took a photo together. After announcing his breakup with his former partner, a woman named Deb Peifer, Bryan invited LaPaglia on stage during his show in June at Forest Hills Stadium in New York City. LaPaglia publicly confirmed their relationship on his podcast after a month of mounting rumors. “It’s fun, it’s casual… I just wanted to address it because the whole Internet is going crazy and people are doing shit,” he said in a July episode of PlanBri. “We’re just hanging out, having fun, and that’s where I’ve been, that’s what I’ve been doing, that’s what I’ll be doing for a while. “We’ll see where it goes and I’m happy.”

public interest

LaPaglia’s relationship with Bryan has been a topic of interest online since they were first involved. In an August 2023 interview with PeopleLaPaglia confessed that Bryan’s fans were harassing her. “Good tiktok “The drama I’ve been loving lately is following the entire internet and hating me during my new relationship,” she said. saying on the red carpet Fluid prizes that same month. “It’s fun. I’m eating it. It was a little crazy at first, but I realized that you can’t buy love or hate on the Internet. “You just have to be yourself and see where it takes you.” Earlier this month, when rumors spread on TikTok that Bryan was active on the celebrity dating app Raya, people began claiming that the singer was cheating on LaPaglia. Even since the breakup was confirmed, TikTok users have continued to debate the relationship, this time trying to figure out who is to blame.

The end

Like most intense relationships on the Internet, fans and haters alike have already taken sides in the LaPaglia-Bryan split. Some fans have accused Bryan of cheating, while others have declared that LaPaglia is worth it. LaPaglia’s boss Portnoy weighed in and dedicated Taylor Swift’s song “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” to LaPaglia on X (formerly Twitter). And in a recent episode of The show without a name On the podcast, Portnoy claimed that Bryan had returned to Raya before “the body was even cold” and that he never felt good about the singer’s relationship with LaPaglia. “Every time I met him, I didn’t feel comfortable with him,” Portnoy said. “He just seemed like an insecure, immature, lacking confidence baby.” However, some have backed away. Bryan’s ex, Peifer, asked commenters on TikTok to stop assuming she was glad Bryan and LaPaglia had broken up. “I just want to make clear the fact that I find no gratification in other people suffering. Specifically other women who suffer,” she said on TikTok. Bryan has remained silent since updating his Instagram Story, instead promoting new music on his Instagram. But for those still interested, LaPaglia has continued to update his audience and address the breakup with his trademark comedic nature.

“I’m literally BFFs,” she said in a recent Instagram Story update. “Damn men and kill them all lmao.”