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By Megan Cartwright
Associate News Editor
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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."
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Bryan was referring to NFL teams the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs, as well as Kanye West—who goes by the name Ye—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."
On Thursday, the "Revival" singer penned a lengthy apology to his Instagram Story, clarifying he "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. 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," he said. "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 p***** off or let down. Love you guys and I'm trying my best!"
In a separate message, Bryan added: "I've been going through a hard time in my own life and think I was projecting a little. To be completely honest, it just came off as rude and desensitizing 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 as 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!!"
"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," he continued, referring to Speak Now (Taylor's Version). "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."
Bryan concluded his note, writing, "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. Not taking it for granted and holding onto it has been so important to me. Okay, needed to get this off my chest, yall [sic] are the best and I'll see you at Bourbon and Beyond."
As of Friday morning, Bryan's X account had not yet been reactivated.
Newsweek reached out to Bryan's team via email for comment.
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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.
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