Zach Bryan has deactivated his Twitter/X account after “drunkenly” declaring his preference for Kanye West over Taylor Swift — but turned to Instagram Thursday morning to make amends.
The trouble started on Tuesday night when Bryan, a vocal supporter of the Philadelphia Eagles (who lost to Travis Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs in the 2023 Super Bowl), tweeted, “eagles > chiefs Kanye > Taylor who’s with me.”
Not surprisingly, the tweet brought forth a tidal wave of angry Swifties. The backlash became so loud that Bryan explained in a follow-up tweet Wednesday that he “drunkenly” made his offending statement after listening to Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology song “Thank You Aimee,” a not-so-subtle jab directed at Kim Kardashian and her ex-husband Kanye West.
“Guys I love Taylor, was listening to TTPD last night and thank you aimee came on and I drunkenly tweeted about Kanye,” Bryan tweeted. “If anyone took it serious please know I love both artists a lot and think we’re in a really beautiful time of music.”
Despite the explanation, the damage was done, and Bryan promptly deactivated his Twitter/X account, which, as of Thursday morning, was still down.
Bryan’s Instagram is still active, however, and in his Stories, he posted a long statement accompanied by an audio clip of Swift’s “Fortnight,” where he attempted to mollify the situation.
“For the record guys I wasn’t coming for Taylor the other night,” Bryan wrote. “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 to her.”
As for his X deactivation, Bryan wrote, “Twitter gets me in trouble too much and I’d say it’s best I stay off it. I’m sorry to any Taylor fans I pissed off or let down. Love you guys and I’m trying my best!”
In a follow-up Story soundtracked by Swift’s “The Albatross,” Bryan added, “I’ve been going through a hard time in my own life and I think I was projecting a little. To be completely honest, it just came off as rude and desensitized to Taylor. I respect her so much as a musician that the last thing I want people thinking I don’t appreciate and love what she has done for music.”
In two more Stories Thursday morning, Bryan continued to praise Swift, “a force of nature for as long as we’ve all been growing up and I admire that,” and confirmed his break from Twitter/X. “I’m going to take a breather from tweeting stupid stuff, finish my tour, and ground myself somehow in the midst of all this.”
And as Bryan reiterated, “Don’t drink and tweet!!”
