Zach Bryan Shares Instagram Apology After Tweeting that He Prefers Kanye West to Taylor Swift: “Twitter Gets Me in Trouble Too Much”

Zach Bryan has shared a length apology via his Instagram Stories, after the Oklahoma singer-songwriter posted that he preferred Kanye West to Taylor Swift on X (formerly Twitter).

Zach Bryan's X account has now been deactivated, but the Tweet in question started with Zach underlining how he loves the Philadelphia Eagles far more than the Kansas City Chiefs.

He wrote, “eagles > chiefs” before following this up with “Kanye > Taylor’, concluding the post by asking “who's with me”. A number of fans took offence, especially given the fact that Kanye West - now known only as ‘Ye’ - has made an increasingly long string of highly controversial comments over the past few years. Earlier in the day, Zach Bryan tweeted, “Don't support Ye, I miss him”, suggesting he doesn't want to be aligned with Kanye's divisive views, but he still enjoys his classic hits.

Kanye West and Taylor Swift have clashed on a number of occasions, most notably when Kanye interrupted Taylor's 2009 MTV VMA acceptance. Taylor's 2017 album, Reputation, is thought to contain a slew of veiled digs at Kanye and his now-ex-wife, Kim Kardashian.

With Taylor Swift currently dating Travis Kelce, who plays for the Chiefs, Zach Bryan's now-deleted Tweet was interpreted by some as a double-jab at both Taylor and Travis.

As Zach Bryan explained in his IG apology, though, he never intended for his Tweet to be an attack on anyone, before blaming alcohol and the stress he's been under in recent months.

With Taylor Swift's Post Malone collaboration, ’Fortnight’, playing in the background, the ‘Revival’ hitmaker shared via IG, “For the record guys I wasn't coming for Taylor the other night. 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”.

The country-folk megastar expanded, “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!”

In the next slide, which was soundtracked by another Tortured Poets Department track, ‘The Albatross’, Zach revealed, “I've been going through a hard time in my own life and I think I was projecting a little. 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!!”

A few minutes later, Zach followed this up with another IG Story, which featured Taylor Swift and Hayley Williams’ much-loved song, ‘Castles Crumbling’. He wrote, “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. I'm gonna go listen to this record now...”

Zach reflected, “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”.

As he constantly showcases throughout his music, Zach Bryan is never afraid to get candid and vulnerable with his fans, as the final slide of his IG apology demonstrated. He underlined, “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 too many things at once. 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, very blessed each day”.

Zach Bryan concluded, “Not taking it for granted and holding onto it has been so important to me. Okay, needed to get this off my chest, yall are the best and I'll see you at Bourbon and Beyond”.

Before taking to IG Stories for an in-depth explanation, Zach Bryan shared a shorter message via X, “guys I love Taylor, I was listening to TTPD last night and thank you aimee came on and I drunkenly tweeted that about Kanye. If anyone took it serious please know I love both artists a lot and think we're in a really beautiful time of music”.

The heartfelt nature of Zach Bryan's apology will seemingly appease many fans, with Zach clearly deeply remorseful about how his words were perceived as knocking Taylor Swift.

They'll be hoping that Zach manages to recharge and work through the pressures he referenced in his apology, ahead of hitting the stage at Bourbon and Beyond Festival later this month. He then resumes his blockbuster Quittin’ Time tour in November.

For more on Zach Bryan, see below:

Featured photo by Laura Ord

Zach Bryan

Artist