What the Heck is Happening Now Between Zach Bryan, Barstool Sports and Brianna LaPaglia - and Why is Tyler Childers Involved?

If you're getting a sense of deja vu at reading that headline, you're not alone - Zach Bryan, Barstool Sports and Brianna LaPaglia have been feuding for the best part of a year now.

In the aftermath of Bryan and LaPaglia's contentious split back in October, there were a slew of barbs sent Bryan's way from LaPaglia's BFF's Podcast co-hosts, Josh Richards and Dave Portnoy. The latter, of course, is the president of digital media giant, Barstool Sports, with BFF's one of the platform's flagship pieces of content.

Shortly after Bryan announced the break-up, LaPaglia levelled an array of troubling allegations at the ‘Something in the Orange’ hitmaker, accusing him of emotional abuse, cheating, trying to get her to sign a $12 million NDA and more. This led to the infamous diss tracks from Portnoy and Richards, with Bryan staying largely silent while the furore roared on, aside from a few isolated song releases.

More recently, though, Bryan has seemingly lost patience with this approach of waiting for the media cycle to move on, with the Oklahoma native sending a flurry of thinly veiled barbs at LaPaglia and her Barstool Sports buddies via social media.

Last night (August 4th, 2025), just a matter of days after declaring he was returning to X because “I missed ruining my life with tweets”, Bryan shared an Instagram Story of him burning a Barstool Sports flag and hitting a golf ball off the top of it. In the background, Tyler Childers’ playful revenge anthem, ‘Bitin’ List’, can be heard.

‘Bitin‘ List’ - which revolves around the hilarious lyrics, “To put it plain, I just don't like you / Not a thing about the way you is / And if there ever come a time I got rabies / You're high on my bitin' list” - has been going immensely viral since its release last Friday.

Zach Bryan has cited Tyler Childers as one of his biggest influences since the early days of his career, so his decision to use one of Childers’ songs to soundtrack his video might seem innocuous. However, fans were quick to point out that, a few days earlier, three of Bryan's exes, Rose Madden, Deb Peifer and Brianna LaPaglia, shared videos lip-syncing to ‘Bitin’ List’. Many took this to be a dig at Bryan.

While this is certainly possible, it feels like a bit of a stretch to say all three were referencing Bryan with their videos. Peifer even went so far as to reply to a fan commenting, “Welp!! I wonder who she’s talking about!”, by clarifying, “No one at all, it’s a good song, I’m a Tyler Childers fan!!! There are 0 bread crumbs here, I 1000% promise”.

LaPaglia's video, though, felt a little more pointed, and she wasted no time in responding to Bryan's Barstool clip, posting a selfie with the caption, “Nurse he's loose again” alongside laughing-crying emojis. She followed this up with a video of her locking her door, and a screenshot of a search for, “how do i file a restraining order”.

Dave Portnoy also replied via Instagram with a similarly tongue-in-cheek message, resharing Bryan's fiery video with the satirical question, “Oh no. How are we gonna recover?”

All of this comes as Bryan decides to be increasingly active on social media, a move that continues to land him in hot water. Just a couple of weeks ago, for instance, the ’Dawns’ crooner made the bizarre decision to comment on a 14-year-old fan's TikTok video complaining that he didn't come and greet fans that had been waiting outside MetLife Stadium for him. Bryan responded by stressing, “You’re not entitled after someone plays two and a half hours to a picture or a hello”, adding, “I went out and took pictures both night one and three. I had a third show the next day and it was late, needed to rest”. He then crossed a line, in many fans’ view, when he bluntly told the fan to ‘GOMD’ (“Get Off My D***”).

This drew backlash from various figures, including Gavin Adcock, who outlined in no uncertain terms why he felt Bryan was in the wrong, “If you can’t handle the criticism of a 14 year old why do people idolize you?...That kid was head over heels to meet you and spent/ parents spent a ton of money to see you. He’s got feeling too and a you’re a “grown man” nearly 30...They’re the only reason you are around”. Adcock followed this up with a video of him meeting his fans, with the caption, “How an artist should act when fans have been waiting in line all day”.

Earlier in July, after the media storm around the October break-up had finally died down, Bryan reignited the uproar by replying to a fan speculating that his song, ‘River Washed Hair’, was about LaPaglia, by clarifying, “lmfao I said ‘sweet,’ this is not about whatever she has going on hahahaha”. LaPaglia responded that she was unsurprised by his comments, “Lmao of course he doesn’t think I’m sweet. I turned down $12 million to share my abuse while Rose and Deb signed NDAs. Also FYI his songs aren’t about anyone, he writes them blackout at 6AM”.

It once again raises the perennial question of whether it's possible to separate the art from the artist, something that is becoming harder and harder for Zach Bryan's fanbase, with it often feeling like there's a new controversy involving the folk chart-topper every few days. Bryan and his team will be hoping the focus shifts back to the music this Friday, when he releases his new collaboration with Kings of Leon, ‘Bowery’. The track is expected to appear on Bryan's forthcoming With Heaven On Top project, which is due to arrive on January 9th, 2026.

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Featured photo by Laura Ord