It’s only been a week since then The Great American Bar Scene singer Zach Bryan announced her separation from BFFs podcaster Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia, and if that word scramble means nothing to you, buckle up. The year-long relationship between Grammy Award-winning country artist and Bar stool 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 came from intense fan scrutiny that began long before the two confirmed their relationship. first of all. Fans of the couple were first privy to the split when LaPaglia posted a mysterious handwritten note on her Instagram feed that read, “Life goes on even if you don’t want it to.” Bryan then officially announced the split on his Instagram story, asking fans to respect their privacy. “Brianna and I have grown apart and I respect and love her with all my heart,” he wrote. “He loved me unconditionally for a very long time and for that I will always thank him. I’ve had an incredibly difficult year personally and I’ve been struggling with some pretty serious things. I thought it would be beneficial for both of us to go our separate ways. I’m not perfect and I never will be. I’m sorry for everything I am and anyone I’ve let down. I try my best. I have failed the people who love me and most of all myself.” Although the statement implies a mutual separation, LaPaglia said she was surprised by the public announcement and will be taking a break from social media. “I had no idea that post would go up,” she said in a short video posted to YouTube, eventually breaking down in tears. “I’m completely blindsided by it.”

The background story

So why are people so interested in the first place? Bryan, 28, is best known as one of the rising stars of country music. After going viral in 2019 with a grainy video of him performing his original song “Heading South,” the singer quickly became a staple in the genre, eventually taking home the Grammy Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance in 2024 for his duet “I Remember Everything” with Kacey Musgraves. His self-titled fourth album peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 200, and in October 2024, he was on the cover of Rolling Stoneannual issue of Musicians on Musicians with songwriting legend Bruce Springsteen. LaPaglia, for her part, began her Internet career with Vine (the now-defunct video app), where she first went viral for comparing her leg to a Burger King Chicken Fry. After interning at Barstool, she became a host BFFs podcast alongside Josh Richards and founder of Barstool Dave Portnoy. LaPaglia is best known for her comedic takes on dating and work after college and hosts her own podcast called PlanBri Uncut.

LaPaglia and Byran shocked fans when they were first linked at the 2023 American Music Awards in May, where the two posed for a photo together. After announcing his split from his former partner, a woman named Deb Peifer, Bryan invited LaPaglia onstage during his June show at New York’s Forest Hills Stadium. LaPaglia publicly confirmed their relationship on her podcast after a month of growing rumors. “It’s fun, ordinary … I just wanted to approach it because the whole Internet is damn fuck and people are shit,” she said in an episode of July. PlanBri. “We welcome, we have fun, and been there, done that, done that for a little 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 testified that Bryan’s fans were harassing her. “Good TikTok the drama I’ve been loving lately, he’s watching all over the internet, he’s hating me during my new relationship,” she said on the red carpet for Streamy Awards the same month. “It’s fun. I kind of eat it. It was kind of crazy at first, but I realized you can’t buy love or hate on the internet. You have to be yourself and see where it takes you.” So, in early October 2024, when rumors spread on TikTok that Bryan was active on celebrity dating app Raya, people started 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 which party is to blame.

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Like most rocky relationships on the internet, fans and haters alike have already weighed in on the LaPaglia-Bryan split. Some fans accused Bryan of cheating, while others declared LaPaglia deserved the pain. LaPaglia’s boss, Portnoy, chimed in — dedicating Taylor Swift’s “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived” to LaPaglia on X (formerly Twitter). And on a recent episode of The show without a name podcast, Portnoy claimed that Bryan went back 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 wasn’t comfortable with him,” Portnoy said. “He seemed like an insecure, immature and not confident kid.” Some have pushed back, however. Bran’s ExPeifer asked TikTok commenters to stop assuming they’re glad Bryan and LaPaglia split. “I just want to be clear about the fact that I find no satisfaction in other people getting hurt. In particular, other women hurt,” she said on TikTok. Bryan has remained silent since updating his Instagram story, instead promoting new music on his Instagram. But for those still invested, LaPaglia continued to update her audience and address the rift in her comic book character.

“They are literally such good besties,” she said in a recent Instagram Story update. “F— men and we’ll show them all.”