Country music star Zach Bryan deactivated his X account and apologized on Instagram for “drunkenly” tweeting his preference for Kanye West over Taylor Swift in a now-deleted post.
On Sept. 17, Bryan tweeted “eagles > chiefs” and followed with “Kanye > Taylor” before closing with “who’s with me,” according to a screenshot shared by Variety.
Bryan, 28, deactivated his X account in the wake of backlash from Swift fans over the tweet. He then issued a series of posts apologizing about it on his Instagram Stories on Sept. 18.
“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.”
West came under fire in 2022 for anti-Semitic social media posts.
“I love Taylor’s music and pray you know guys know I’m human and tweet stupid things often,” Bryan continued. “Hope one day I can explain this to her.”
He wrote that “it’s best” that he stay off X and said he was going through “a hard time” in his life and was “projecting a little” with his tweet.
“To be completely honest it just came off as rude and desensitized to Taylor,” he wrote. “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.”
He finished by writing, “Don’t drink and tweet!!”
The “eagles > chiefs” portion appeared to be a jab at a team Swift has become synonymous with since she began dating Chiefs superstar tight end Travis Kelce.
Swift is often seen at Kansas City games, including a win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 15. Kelce’s brother, retired NFL lineman Jason Kelce, starred for the Philadelphia Eagles during his career.
Swift and West have a history together that goes back to West interrupting Swift onstage after she won an award at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2009.
The two have since either directly or obliquely referenced each other multiple times over the years in the media or in song lyrics.
Most recently, the Swift song “thanK you aIMee” on her 2023 album “The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology” appeared to reference a long-standing feud with West’s ex-wife, Kim Kardashian.
In a since-deleted tweet, Bryan referred to that song, according to a screenshot shared by Variety.
“Guys I love Taylor, was as listening to TTPD last night and thank you aimee came on and i drunkenly tweeted that about kanye,” he wrote. “If anyone took it serious please know I love both artists a lot and think we’re in a really beautiful time of music.”
Bryan and Swift have been jockeying on the charts with their most recent albums.
Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department” sits at No. 5 on the Billboard 200, while Bryan’s “The Great American Bar Scene” is at No. 7. Bryan also has two other albums in the top 20, while Swift has four previous albums in the top 50.
West’s album released in August, “Vultures 2,” is not among the top 200, although two of his previous albums are on the chart.
