As country singer Zach Bryan puts his “The Quittin’ Time Tour” on pause momentarily, he has made his way back into headlines, but not for his music. After over a year of dating internet personality and Barstool Sports podcaster Brianna LaPaglia, also known as Brianna Chickenfry, Bryan announced on his Instagram story that the pair had split. The news came as a surprise to many of the artist’s fans, as no rumors had surfaced before the announcement that there were any issues with the two. The scandal itself illustrated the toxic qualities of a relationship that is subject to the judgment of the public, especially after a breakup.
Interestingly enough, Bryan’s post came as a surprise to LaPaglia as well, with her uploading a nearly four minute long video to her Youtube account regarding the incident. In the video, LaPaglia could be seen teary-eyed explaining she had no prior knowledge that the post was going up, and was left stunned by his decision to upload it without discussing the breakup.
Following the feud between the couple, Bryan has been met with backlash and criticism from both social media as well as people close to LaPaglia. Barstool co-host Dave Portnoy has been one of the most active critics of the country artist, as he released a diss-track shortly after the announcement, which was quickly taken down due to copyright infringement. Unwilling to be silenced, Portnoy followed up with a second diss track on the artist, which was not taken down.
“It’s kind of hard to pick sides because it seems like they both messed up. [LaPaglia] said [Bryan] was rude and made her uncomfortable, but [Bryan] claimed she was dismissive first. Honestly, it just feels like a big misunderstanding that got blown up,” senior Helen Carmona said.
Among the attacks in the diss track, the most referenced issues were Bryan’s allegations of emotional abuse, which LaPaglia had spoken about in an extended episode on her podcast. Incidents discussed involved the singer allegedly smashing her phone against a wall, as well as engaging in an aggravated argument with LaPaglia’s friends on her birthday and needing to be held back by her aunt. Nonetheless, LaPaglia’s most serious allegation was her claiming Bryan attempted to persuade her to sign a non-disclosure agreement about his emotional abuse, offering her $12 million and a New York apartment if she opted to sign it. Bryan has yet to respond to these claims, but he has received a heap of retaliation from supporters of LaPaglia in the meanwhile.
“Breakups are rarely one person’s fault like in this situation. Bryan’s actions might have played a part, like being emotionally abusive towards her during the relationship. But [LaPaglia] sharing private details that shouldn’t have been shared on the internet also impacted the breakup. Both contributed to the problems in their own ways,” sophomore Zelie Dissaux said.
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The entire situation serves as a prime example that in the age of publicity, the general public becoming involved only aggravates issues. Prior to the use of Instagram and Barstool Sports podcasts, this would likely have not even been made aware to fans until much after. The pair would not have been able to settle their issues live for everyone to see, as well as create attention through controversy. With attention being the most valuable currency of the modern day, celebrities are only encouraged to do this, creating a harmful environment in their personal lives at the same time.
“I feel that paparazzi and people in general get way too involved in these celebrities’ lives to the point where it causes them harm. Issues that could be easily fixed turn into way more of a big deal when millions of people are voicing their opinions on other peoples’ private concerns,” junior Mara Olivares said.
Rather than being able to have it resolved behind closed doors, LaPaglia, following the breakup, is instead able to have her grievances aired for millions to hear. This only presents more issues, as fans begin speculating into a matter concerning the two’s private lives and just exacerbating whatever problem that arises for the sake of discussion. A simple breakup between two people was inflated to involve people such as Portnoy creating multiple diss tracks for his share of publicity. This situation, much like other public relationships, should have been dealt with personally instead of with the public’s comments. However, the toxic cultures of fame and publicity undeniably continue to persevere, as fans continue to add their own opinions to events that do not require it.
“Portnoy honestly is trying to milk their breakup for his own benefit. Making a diss track about another couple’s breakup is making her life a circus and exploiting the issue for profit,” sophomore Jeremy Ramirez said.
