Zach Bryan deactivates X account after 'drunken' Taylor Swift post. What he said

Country music star Zach Bryan has deactivated his X-account and apologized on Instagram for “drunkenly” tweeting that he preferred Kanye West to Taylor Swift in a now-deleted post.

On September 17, according to a screenshot shared by Variety, Bryan tweeted “Eagles > Chiefs,” followed by “Kanye > Taylor,” before concluding with “Who's with me.”

Bryan, 28, deactivated his X account after Swift fans reacted to the tweet. He then published a series of posts on his Instagram stories apologizing on Sept. 18.

“To the record people: I wasn't here for Taylor the other day,” Bryan wrote. “I was drunkenly comparing two records and it came out wrong. I know there are a lot of things floating around Ye and I was speaking purely musically.”

West came under criticism in 2022 for anti-Semitic social media posts.

“I love Taylor's music and pray you know that I'm only human and often tweet stupid things,” Bryan continued. “I hope I can explain that to her one day.”

He wrote that it was “best” for him to stay away from X and said he was going through “a tough time” in his life and was “projecting a little” with his tweet.

“To be completely honest, it just came across as rude and desensitized to Taylor,” he wrote. “I respect her so much as a musician that the last thing I want is for people to think I don't appreciate and love what she has done for music.”

He concluded by writing: “Don’t drink and tweet!!”

The “Eagles > Chiefs” part seemed to be a dig at a team Swift has become synonymous with since she began dating Chiefs superstar tight end Travis Kelce.

Swift is often seen at Kansas City games, including a win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 15. Kelce's brother, former NFL lineman Jason Kelce, was a star player for the Philadelphia Eagles during his career.

Swift and West share a history that dates back to West interrupting Swift onstage after she won an award at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.

Since then, the two have made several direct or indirect references to each other in the media and in song lyrics over the years.

Most recently, Swift's song “thanK you aIMee” on her 2023 album “The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology” seemed to allude to a long-standing feud with West's ex-wife Kim Kardashian.

In a now-deleted tweet, Bryan referenced this song, according to a screenshot shared by Variety.

“Guys I love Taylor, was listening to TTPD last night and thank you, Aimee came over and I drunk tweeted this about Kanye,” he wrote. “If anyone was serious please know that I love both artists very much and think we are in a really beautiful time in music.”

Bryan and Swift have dominated the charts with their latest albums.

Swift's “The Tortured Poets Department” is at No. 5 on the Billboard 200, while Bryan's “The Great American Bar Scene” is at No. 7. Bryan also has two other albums in the top 20, while Swift already has four albums in the top 50.

West's album “Vultures 2”, released in August, did not make it into the top 200, but two of his earlier albums are there.