Zach Bryan is no stranger to controversy, but he has another one brewing and it doesn’t appear to be pretty.
Per TMZ, the country music star was at a bar in New York City’s West Village on Monday playing poll when he got into an altercation that was recorded by someone wearing Ray-Ban Meta glasses.
The website said that Bryan and his friends were playing a group of patrons at around midnight when things started to get heated. The site said that Bryan tried on the glasses at one point and said “You’re gonna see some terrible things tonight.”
TMZ said there is a gap in the video, but when it starts again, the owner of the Meta glasses can be heard saying, “I’m not trying to record your ass. I’m trying to record (stuff) with my friends, for memories, to have fu, and you’re just being a douche.”
TMZ said Bryan responds, “That’s the gayest thing I’ve ever heard.” The site said Bryan balled-up his fist and told the owner of the glasses, “I wanna rip them off your face so bad, ‘cause we’re at a bar.’”
The site said that Bryan’s friends de-escalated things and got him out of there before it advanced further.
Bryan had a very publica breakup with Barstool Sports personality Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia late last year. Following the split, she accused him of abuse.
“The last year of my life has been like the hardest year of my life dealing with the abuse from this dude,” LaPaglia said on the BFFs Podcast. “I’m still scared right now because I’m scared of him. My brain’s rewired, and I’m scared to make him mad.”
LaPaglia then outlined what she called “emotional abuse.”
“There was always another excuse as to why he was treating me so poorly and why I’m crying myself to sleep every night, why he’s screaming at me,” she said. “And then you wake up, it’s the apology, it’s the ‘I’m going to be better, I need you in my life.’”
LaPaglia claimed that Bryan offered her $12 million and a New York apartment to sign a non-disclosure agreement after their breakup, but she said she turned it down.
“I was offered a lot of money, like a big lump sum of money and a few options,” she said. “Basically, I would have gotten the money over the course of three years. I would have had to sign all of my experiences, everything that I am, away to this person. They would have been monitoring everything that I do.
“I did not accept any money,” she added. “I will not accept any money. I think that’s beneath me. I don’t think you can pay people off that you hurt for them to protect you. I think that in itself, offering millions of dollars to this apparent beautiful relationship to keep it a secret, speaks volumes.”
LaPaglia shared specific instances, including one at the Golden Globes in which she claimed Bryan disapproved of her dress.
“Everything good, anything good I did for me, he made sure to ruin it for me,” she said. “He ruined my birthday. He ruined my tour. He ruined the Golden Globes. Anything Brianna did for Brianna, he had to ruin it.”
There was a lot more outlined in the podcast, and you can read more of it here on Billboard.com.
“I lost myself throughout this whole relationship,” LaPaglia said. “I don’t even recognize myself anymore. I lost 15 pounds. I didn’t have to lose in the relationship. I didn’t sleep. I was completely isolated from my family, from my friends, from work.”