Breaking Down the Drama Between Zach Bryan, Gavin Adcock and a Disgruntled 14-Year-Old Fan

With Zach Bryan and Gavin Adcock almost coming to fisticuffs at Oklahoma's 2025 Born & Raised Festival this past weekend, we thought it was a good time to shed some light and add some context as to why these two country titans are feuding.

Footage quickly went viral of the bizarre moment when Zach Bryan prowls along a fence, with Gavin Adcock and his team on the other side, before Bryan declaring, “If they open this f***ing gate I'll f***ing kill you”. The ‘Something in the Orange’ hitmaker then climbed the fence, and had to be held back as he tried to get to Adcock.

Adcock took to Instagram shortly after to explain the almost-altercation, reflecting, “Well, like I said, I don't think Zach Bryan's a very good person. He wasn't locked out of the festival. He had been there all day with his multiple security guards”.

The Georgia native went on to suggest Bryan was making a show of wanting to fight him, despite having all day to actually do so, “He saw me standing between my buses when he got here, and saw me walk on my bus when I went to watch the Georgia game. [He] proceeded to go to other artists and ask them, ‘Where's Gavin? Where's Gavin?’ and their guests, and treat them like dogs***, flipping them birds and saying just douchebag stuff to them all day. So he had plenty of opportunity through the whole day to do whatever he wanted to do, but decided he was gonna wait like an hour before my set while I was standing out there. And no artist that cares about their fans is gonna fight right before their set, missing going on, and disappointing fans that spent way too much money to be there. I wasn't even mad, I didn't have a single reason to fight him...I just decided to stir him up to the point where he decided to jump the fence. I don't think anybody's scared of Zach Bryan. I'm just an adult...I didn't take the Zach Bryan bait, and I'll be praying for him to get better, because he sure needs it”.

This all started because, back in July, Zach Bryan landed himself in hot water when he decided to respond to a 14-year-old fan that was upset they didn't get to meet him.

The fan shared footage of Bryan's car pulling out of the venue, explaining, “Zach Bryan driving away from his fans that waited four hours to meet him. He didn’t even roll down his window to say hi”, before adding in a second video, “We waited 3 hours outside to meet Zach Bryan and he completely blew everyone off and drove away like a jerk, meanwhile he got out of his car to meet fans Metlife N1”.

The incident took place after the second of three shows at MetLife Stadium last weekend, with the fan suggesting that we should ‘Cancel Zach Bryan’ because of his poor behaviour. Of all the things Bryan has allegedly done in recent years, this probably isn't the one he should have been cancelled for, but even so, it's a bizarre decision from the ‘I Remember Everything’ hitmaker to wade into this furore.

Bryan took to the comments to justify his actions, “You’re not entitled after someone plays two and a half hours to a picture or a hello””, adding, “I went out and took pictures both night one and three. I had a third show the next day and it was late, needed to rest”. It was the country-folk titan's additional remark of ‘GOMD’ (“Get Off My D***”), though, that has led many to say he went too far in his rebuttal.

As a result, Zach Bryan is catching some heat from an array of artists, most notably Gavin Adcock, who outlined in no uncertain terms - and in classic Gavin Adcock fashion - why he disapproves of the way in which Bryan has handled himself.

Adcock took to X (formerly Twitter) to argue, “If you can’t handle the criticism of a 14 year old why do people idolize you?...That kid was head over heels to meet you and spent/ parents spent a ton of money to see you. He’s got feeling too and a you’re a “grown man” nearly 30...They’re the only reason you are around”.

The timing of this clash felt pertinent, with Adcock pausing his recent show to say hello and offer a hug to a fan that had been battling cancer. Perhaps he had this moving encounter on his mind when the ‘Sunset’ singer-songwriter shared his thoughts on X.

A number of fellow artists weighed in via socials, with Brent Cobb praising Adcock, “Congratulations @gavinadcockmusic on your win here ol bo. We all real proud of you”.

Greylan James, meanwhile, sympathised with Zach Bryan's sentiments, but admitted the way in which he responded to the young fan's videos was unnecessarily heavy-handed, “he’s 100% right but “gomd” on a fan’s tiktok is crazy work lol”.

If you can’t handle the criticism of a 14 year old why do people idolize you?

That kid was head over heels to meet you and spent/ parents spent a ton of money to see you. He’s got feeling too and a you’re a “grown man” nearly 30

They’re the only reason you are around.

— Gavin Adcock Music (@GavinAdcock) July 22, 2025

So who was in the right in all this?

It's undoubtedly tricky, and you can definitely see where Zach Bryan is coming from. After giving his all on-stage for two back-to-back shows that lasted almost three hours apiece, and knowing he has one more the following day, you can understand why he'd want to prioritise getting rest so that he can deliver a strong final set.

Especially given the fact that he waited and took pictures with fans the previous evening, you can't help but feel most people would see his side of this debate, while still, of course, appreciating why the young fan would be disappointed.

It really feels like this wouldn't have blown up into the issue it now if Zach Bryan had just held his virtual tongue, and not replied so aggressively to the 14-year-old's TikTok videos. As Greylan James outlined, he has a point in that we shouldn't expect artists to come out and spend time with fans every single night after shows, but the way in which Bryan responded has left many feeling uneasy. Especially the blunt “GOMD” comment, given this is a 14-year-old fan we're talking about.

Look, every artist has off-days, and with Zach Bryan being one of the biggest names in modern music, he must be constantly hounded by fans asking for photos, autographs and more. And given how Bryan has had a string of controversies over the past year or so, we imagine many of these public meetings are unpleasant.

But there's no need to offend a young listener in this way online. Adcock has a point that fans are “the only reason you are around”, and Bryan generally comes across as very thankful and appreciative of how loyal and fervent his supporters are. It seems he was just extremely tired that night, which we 100% get, but he then needlessly exacerbated the situation by wading into the young fan's TikTok comments.

With Zach Bryan's fanbase having a hard time defending him in recent months after Brianna LaPaglia's troubling accusations, this uproar is the last thing he or his fans needed.

It remains to be seen whether the ‘Something in the Orange’ crooner will respond to Gavin Adcock's comments, but we reckon he'd be best advised to steer clear of the keyboard for a little while. At the time of writing, Bryan's TikTok page is still active.

Hopefully, we can get back to focussing on Bryan's stellar catalogue of music, rather than constantly having to ask ourselves whether we need to separate the artist from the art.

For more on Zach Bryan, see below: