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Zach Bryan addressed a statement he wrote on X, formerly Twitter, about Taylor Swift that sparked backlash and led him to deactivate the account.
Bryan wrote in a post on Tuesday night (September 17), “eagles > chiefs, Kanye > Taylor, who’s with me.” He shared a new statement on several slides on his Instagram story on Thursday morning (September 19), explaining that he…
“For the record guys I wasn’t coming for Taylor the other night. I was drunkenly comparing two records and it came out wrong,” Bryan said. “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 this to her. 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!
“I’ve been going through a hard time in my own life and I think I was projecting a little,” he continued. “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 is people thinking I don’t appreciate and love what she has done for music. Okay, that’s the last of it! Love you guys and hope you guys understand. Don’t drink and tweet. Don’t drink and tweet!!
“Not saving face here, but Taylor has been a force of nature for as long as w’ve all been growing up and I admire that. I’m gonna go listen to this record now,” Bryan said, referring to Speak Now (Taylor’s Version). “I never want people to think I have a hint of malice or meanness towards anyone, ever, that’s why I’m saying all this. Everyone have the best day of all time, I love ya.”
Bryan’s final slide on his Instagram story as of publication time on Thursday opens up about a year that’s “been an awful lot on me in personal ways that no one knows and I’ve been trying to cope and balance too many things at once.” He said he’d “take a breather from tweeting stupid stuff” and “ground myself somehow” as he finishes his ongoing headlining tour. “I feel very, very blessed each day.”