'Don't drink and tweet.' Singer Zach Bryan apologizes for late night post that upset Swifties

Country singer Zach Bryan, who will be performing at Bourbon and Beyond on Saturday, found himself in some hot water after a late night post on X/Twitter that upset Taylor Swift fans.

Here's what happened.

Why did Zach Bryan delete his X account?

On Sept. 18, Zach Bryan posted on X: "Eagles > chiefs,” followed by, “Kanye > Taylor,” adding, “Who’s with me?”

The implications of the tweet are layered, but it was clearly interpreted by Taylor Swift fans to be a diss. Swift is dating Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and famously had a very public beef with Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, and his former wife Kim Kardashian.

Swifties were quick to clock the country singer's post and backlash ensued, leading to Bryan deleting his account.

Zach Bryan's Swift apology

Early in the morning on Sept. 19, Bryan apologized for the tweet, saying that he was drunk when he wrote it and didn't think about the implications of it.

“For the record guys I wasn’t coming for Taylor the other night,” Bryan wrote on his Instagram story. "I was drunkenly comparing two records and it came out wrong."

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Bryan added: "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 that one day I can explain this to her."

What Bryan meant is that his tweet very easily could have been interpreted to be an indicator of his political standings, as Ye has been tied to former President Donald Trump in the past and Swift just endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris.

Ye has also made antisemitic comments in the past few years, and in 2022 those comments lost him a brand deal with Adidas.

As for why he decided to delete his account, Bryan said it gets him into too much trouble.

"Twitter gets me in trouble too much and I'd say it's best I stay off it," Bryan added. "I'm sorry to any Taylor fans I pissed off or let down. Love you guys and I'm trying my best!"

Zach Bryan continues apologizing to Taylor Swift

Bryan's first apology post was shared with Swift's song "Fortnight" featuring Post Malone. He then continues his apology on another post, further explaining himself, sharing another Swift song, "The Albatross" off her latest album.

"I've been going through a hard time in own life and I think I was projecting a little," Bryan wrote. "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."

He added: "Don't drink and tweet. Don't drink and tweet!!"

While he seemed to think this would be his final post about it, he then added another post to his Instagram story including the song "Castles Crumbling," a vault track off her re-recorded album "Speak Now (Taylor's Version)" that features Paramore singer Hayley Williams.

"Not saving face here, but Taylor has been a force of nature for as long as we've all been growing up and I admire that," Bryan continued. "I'm gonna go listen to this record now, 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."

In a final post on his Instagram story, unaccompanied by a Swift song, Bryan ended his apology on a more personal note and reaffirmed his decision to stay off X.

"This year has been an awful lot on me in personal ways that no one knows and I've been trying to cope and balance so many things at once," he wrote. "So I'm going to take a breather from tweeting stupid stuff, finish my tour, and ground myself somehow in the midst of all this. I feel very blessed each day."

He ended his apology with a word about how grateful he is for his career and how he is looking forward to Bourbon and Beyond.

"Not taking it for granted and holding onto it has been so important to me," Bryan wrote. "Okay, needed to get this off my chest. Y'all are the best and I'll see you at Bourbon and Beyond."

Katie Wiseman is a trending news reporter at IndyStar. Contact her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @itskatiewiseman.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Zach Bryan apologizes to Taylor Swift fans for tweet claiming Ye is better