Zach Bryan has apologised for a controversial tweet on X (formerly known as Twitter) in which he ranked Kanye “Ye” West above Taylor Swift.
Earlier this week, the Something In The Orange singer wrote on social media: “eagles > chiefs / Kanye > Taylor” and asked his followers, “who’s with me.”
Taylor Swift and Ye have had a longstanding feud ever since the rapper took the microphone from her as she accepted the Best Female Video award at the 2009 VMAs. In 2016, Ye released the musician video for his song Famous which included naked sculptures of Swift; the song also alleges that he “made that b*tch famous.”
In 2023, Swift said that the song and Kim Kardashian’s leak of an alleged phone call between herself and Ye took her “psychologically to a place I’ve never been before.”
Bryan, who’s since deactivated his X account, took to his Instagram Stories yesterday (19 September) to clear up any assumptions around his post, apologising to his (and Swift’s) fans for any misunderstandings.
“For the record guys I wasn’t coming for Taylor the other night,” the singer-songwriter wrote on his Instagram Stories, sharing that he was listening to the Taylor Swift and Post Malone collab, Fortnight.
“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.”
Adding that he gets into too much trouble on X, Bryan wrote, “I’m sorry to any Taylor fans I pissed off or let down.”
In another Instagram Story (where he was listening to The Albatross), Bryan said he’s “been going through a hard time” and that he might have been “projecting a little.”
Bryan added that his original post “came off as rude and desensitized to Taylor” and that he respects her as a musician, adding, “Don’t drink and tweet!”
In a third Instagram Story (which featured the song Castles Crumbling with Paramore’s Hayley Williams), Bryan continued, “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 Iʼm saying all this. Everyone have the best day of all time, I love ya.”
In a final Instagram Story on the matter, Bryan admitted that this year has thrown an “awful lot” at him on a personal level “that no one knows”, and he’s been “trying to cope and balance too many things at once.”
He concluded, “So, I’m going to take a breather from tweeting stupid stuff, finish my tour, and ground myself somehow in the midst of all this. I feel very, very blessed each day.”
You can view the Instagram Stories below.
In July, Zach Bryan released his latest album, The Great American Bar Scene. You can find fan reactions to the album here.
Source: Zach Bryan’s Instagram Stories/@zachlanebryan
Countrytown brings you Australia’s best country music news, interviews, charts and more every week! This post was authored by Countrytown and originally published on the Countrytown website. It has been re-published with permission.
