Zach Bryan has deactivated his X, formerly Twitter, account after a comment involving Taylor Swift sparked a divide online.
On Wednesday, the country singer took to the social media platform to share a controversial take on music and football.
“eagles > chiefs,” he began his message. “Kanye > Taylor,” he said, before adding, “who’s with me.”
Bryan was referring to NFL teams the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs, as well as Kanye West and Taylor Swift. The “Cruel Summer” singer’s boyfriend, Travis Kelce, is a tight-end for the Chiefs. Kelce’s brother, Jason Kelce, recently retired from the Eagles.
Prior to deleting his account, Bryan reportedly walked back on his comments, blaming alcohol for his remarks.
“Guys I love Taylor,” Bryan said, per Us Weekly. “[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.”
Newsweek reached out to Bryan’s team via email for comment.
Zach Bryan performs during the Quittin Time tour at Nissan Stadium on June 29, 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Inset) Taylor Swift performs onstage during her Eras Tour at Wembley Stadium on August 15, 2024 in London, England. Bryan recently deactivated his X account after sharing his opinion about the Philadelphia Eagles vs the Kansas City Chiefs and Kanye West vs Taylor Swift.
Keith Griner/Getty Images; Inset Gareth Cattermole/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management
The 28-year-old’s profile has since disappeared, but screenshots of his post have been making the rounds on social media.
Pop Culture news account @PopCrave—which boasts over 1.8 million followers on X—shared Bryan’s note alongside the caption, “Country star Zach Bryan deactivates X/Twitter account following backlash to tweet: Eagles > chiefs Kanye > Taylor.”
At the time of publication, the post racked up more than 1.1 million views and over 900 comments. In the replies, fans were split on the Grammy Award winner‘s view.
Many Swifties—the nickname given to Taylor Swift’s fans—pushed back.
“He knew not to mess with the Swifties 😭😭,” @bloodylikeabody wrote in a comment with more than 72,000 views and over 1,000 likes.
“Shouldn’t have triggered the Swifties,” @guppy_trades said.
“nobody agrees with that,” @BrianTubey1 shared, while @Angelica_Reed1 chimed in, “Kanye over Taylor is just insane 😭.”
“Crazy take wrong in both ways,” @CATBOYBOSS added.
“He better be releasing an apology video rn,” @calliehowardd said.
Others, meanwhile, agreed with Bryan.
“Facts Kanye > Taylor,” @MelisaMimosa420 said.
“he was telling the truth,” @TiaNEVERTamera shared, as @sojelani agreed, “why? He told the truth.”
“Why deactivate. These are correct positions,” @Arvind_shukla89 shared.
“He’s right,” @official202e wrote, with @FuriousBearsFan noting, “Zach Bryan did nothing wrong, all he said is that he prefers Kanye over Taylor, not even trashing her.”
Many consider “thanK you aIMee” to be a swipe at West’s ex-wife Kim Kardashian. The song details the pain Swift endured with a bully, and the capital letters in the song spell out “Kim.”
Swift and West’s feud dates back to 2009 when the rapper interrupted Swift’s MTV Video Music Awards speech for Best Female Video.
“Yo, Taylor. I’m really happy for you. Imma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time,” the dad of four—who shares kids Saint, Psalm, North and Chicago with Kardashian—famously said at the time, referring to Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies.”
Though the “Fortnight” hitmaker appeared to forgive West in her 2010 hit “Innocent,” their beef heated up again in 2016 with the release of West’s song, “Famous.” While the rapper claimed the pop star approved the lyric, “I made that b**** famous,” Swift denied that claim.
