Dave Portnoy and Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPagliaHis friendship has come a long way over the years.

Portnoy, 47, founded Barstool Sports in 2003, but LaPaglia, 25, didn’t join the team until much later. She started with the podcast network in 2020 as an intern. The organization contacted her through social media after her videos started going viral.

“Barstool DM’d me one day and I’m from Boston so Barstool is like Mecca in Boston. It’s like Dave Portnoy is God where I’m from,” she recalled in a July 2023 message. TikTok videos. “They DMed me to come to New York and I went into the office. I got drunk before because I was so nervous. And they offered me an internship while I was in school.”

After landing her first gig, LaPaglia knew she wanted to continue creating content online, so she dropped out of college. LaPaglia joined the staff and was given his own show, which became “PlanBri Uncut”.

Why is Brianna called Chickenfry? What you need to know about the barstool sports personality

As LaPaglia found success at Barstool, she struck up a friendship with her boss. LaPaglia and Portnoy later started podcasting together for the show “BFFs” that they do with the TikTok star. Josh Richards. The trio discuss all things pop culture every week.

When LaPaglia started dating the country singer Zach Bryan in 2023, Portnoy poked fun at his co-worker for getting a lot of “hate” for getting into a public romance.

“Well, you deserve it for that shit,” Portnoy joked in an August 2023 episode of “BFFs” podcast.. “People get hate for PR.”

LaPaglia confessed that she knew that word in her new romance would backfire, and Portnoy hit back.

“I shouldn’t say you deserve it,” he said. “It’s very predictable, that’s a better way to put it.”

LaPaglia and Bryan, 28, continued dating for just over a year. In October, Bryan announced that he and LaPaglia had he gave it up.

“Brianna and I have separated and I respect and love her with every ounce of my heart,” the singer wrote in a statement on Tuesday, October 22. “She loved me unconditionally for a very long time and for that. , I will always thank him.”

Country star Zach Bryan and Brianna ‘Chickenfry’ LaPaglia from Barstool Sports Relationship Timeline

That same day, LaPaglia later said he felt “blindsided” by Bryan following the breakup.

“I’m going to get off social media for a while and try to heal in private. When I’m ready, I’ll come back and talk. I love you guys so much,” she wrote via her Instagram story. “Thank you for all your kind words. Remember that you are so loved and everything will always be okay.”

Portnoy, for his part, showed he had LaPaglia on his back weighing with a Taylor Swift song.

“Dedicating this to @BChickenfry,” he wrote via X on Tuesday of Swift’s “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived.”