Zach Bryan and Brianna LaPaglia. Casey Flanigan/imageSPACE/MEGA; Jason Kempin/Getty Images
Zach Bryan is giving fans the full story about his recent arrest.
“I wanted to be completely transparent with everyone who listens to my music about what happened yesterday with me getting arrested,” the 27-year-old songwriter said via his Instagram Story on Friday, September 8, one day after he was taken into custody in Vinta, Oklahoma on an “obstruction of investigation” charge. (He was released on bail shortly after his arrest, according to Rolling Stone.)
Bryan continued in the lengthy video, which he shared from his car with his dog Jack beside him: “I did go to jail, they didn’t play favorites. I was an idiot today and my decisions did not reflect who I was as a person and I just wanna make that clear and I should’ve been smarter about it.”
The musician claimed that an incident that happened several days prior contributed to his behavior the day of his arrest. He recalled driving through a “small town in Oklahoma” when he got pulled over for “going like four or five [miles per hour] over [the speed limit]” earlier this week.
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When the police officer asked him for his license and registration, he refused. “I said, ‘Hey man, I don’t really feel comfortable giving you my address. I’m a musician. I just, I’m not comfortable with it,’” Bryan said. He claimed that when he continued to refuse, the officer asked him to step out of his vehicle and handcuffed him.
“We talked about it, I explained to him why, I ended up giving him my address. … He let me go because I just started respecting him and being cordial,” the “Heading South” singer said, adding that the situation “just frustrated me a lot.”
Cut to Thursday, September 7, when Bryan was headed to Boston with his security guard driving behind him in a separate car. When his security guard got pulled over, Bryan parked on the side of the road to wait for him. He claimed that when he got out of his car to smoke a cigarette, a police officer told him to get back in his vehicle or he would take him to jail.
“Like a dumbass I said, ‘Take me to f—king jail, what you do you mean?’” Bryan recalled. Admitting that he got “too lippy” with the officer, the “Something in the Orange” artist explained how things went downhill from there.
“I just didn’t help my situation at all, I felt like a child. It was ridiculous, it was immature,” he said. “And I just pray everybody knows that I don’t think I’m above the law, I was just being disrespectful and I shouldn’t have been. … In reality, they were just doing their jobs.”
Zach Bryan Timothy Norris/Getty Images for Stagecoach
Bryan was then handcuffed and taken to jail, where he said he “kind of lightened up” as everyone working there “was super kind.” He wrapped up the lengthy video by apologizing to both officers involved and saying that he still has “to deal with the legalities” of the situation “when I get back home.”
Bryan’s video explanation came hours after he first apologized for the incident via social media.
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“Today I had an incident with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. Emotions got the best of me and I was out of line in the things I said,” he wrote via Instagram and X, formerly known as Twitter. “I support law enforcement as much as anyone can, I was just frustrated in the moment, it was unlike me and I apologize. They brought me to jail, and there is a mug shot of me floating around.”
While Bryan has shown his earnest regret about the incident, his girlfriend, Barstool Sports personality Brianna LaPaglia, seemingly poked fun at his arrest early Friday morning when she shared Britney Spears’ song “Criminal” via her Instagram Story.
LaPaglia, 24, who is also known as Brianna Chickenfy, first confirmed rumors that she and Bryan were an item during a July episode of her “PlanBri Uncut” podcast.
“I started hanging out with a guy named Zach, what, three weeks ago?” she said at the time. “It’s fun, it’s casual, and yeah, I just wanted to address it because the whole internet is freaking the f—k out and people are doing s—t. And yeah, that’s really it. Just hanging out, having some fun.”
One month later, LaPaglia sang Bryan’s praises during an episode of her “BFFs” podcast.
“He’s, like, the nicest, most genuine person I’ve ever met,” she said, revealing that she and Bryan solidified their connection during an 18-hour car ride, during which they talked the whole time. “He’s so normal.”
Bryan’s arrest comes days after his third album, self-titled Zach Bryan, earned him his first No. 1 release.