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Brianna Chickenfry Says She Was Blinded By Zach Bryan’s Fame During Relationship: “So Many Men In Power Take Advantage Of Women”
I know, I know, I am just as ready to move on from this as you are. But I have a job, so here I am writing again about the aftermath of Brianna Chickenfry and Zach Bryan's relationship. But just as I am tired of writing about this, and you're going to b**ch about how we are still covering this, you're still clicking on it. So, if you are one of those readers who has been here and is still finding interest in this drama, welcome back.
The aftermath has been anything but ordinary since Zach Bryan and Brianna Chickenfry very publicly split. Brianna Chickenfry has been spilling all the tea about their relationship, accusing ZB of being a narcissistic abuser. Allegedly, ZB asked her to sign an NDA in exchange for $12 million, tore her down constantly, took her cat "out of spite" after breaking up, and said that ZB has "whipped sh*t" at her face.
The allegations are not good at all, but of course, it's only one side of the story.
While Brianna tells much of her story on her podcast, which she co-hosts with Dave Portnoy and Josh Richards, the BFFs Podcast, other podcasts also want their cut of the check and are now inviting Brianna to appear on their podcasts.
While Brianna Chickenfry has spoken about red flags she might have ignored when first getting involved with Zach Bryan, during a recent appearance on Alix Earle's Hot Mess podcast, she detailed more about the allure of ZB and what made her fall in love with him.
"In the beginning, it was a mirror of myself which I obviously didn't know, but I was falling in love with him because I thought it was him. But I was falling in love with myself because when you're in a relationship with a narcissist, they just like mirror who you are. You're just falling in love with the person that you are because they like to cling to all of your good parts.
So he was hyping me up for all of these great things about me, he loved that I was outspoken, he loved my job, and then, like, slowly and slowly, it just started deteriorating. Like it would start with little nitpicks..."
Brianna then details how she began questioning herself in the relationship based on ZB's nitpicks. She began to worry about whether she was doing something wrong since he had her back entirely at the start of the relationship. She details how narcissists get to you because you trust them fully, and they make you feel great before slowly tearing you down and changing who you are as a person.
@alixearle.hotmess Falling in love with a narcissist… #alixearle #hotmess #fyp #podcast #briannachickenfry #zachbryan ♬ Lights Are On - Instrumental - Edith Whiskers
After Brianna tells Alix Earle about these traits at the beginning of their relationship, Earle asks if she ever felt naive about who he might have been because of the fame and rock star lifestyle he lived as a massive country artist.
"Do you think at all you were blinded by the fact of his status or who he was?"
She asks.
Brianna began saying "100%" before Earle could even finish her question:
"100%. 100%, and I'll be so honest about that. If this was normal, Jo Schmo, and the first time, he would have said, or not the first time, maybe like him getting me tattooed on him after a week, I would have been like, that's f**king crazy. But because he was him, I was like, 'Oh, that's rock star.'
But like that should have been a red flag... this happens to so many men in power. They take advantage of women and nobody talks about it because when money is involved everything gets thrown under the rug and money rules everything... you're just surrounded by 'yes' men."
Brianna then says that as their relationship progressed and she noticed that some of his behavior was odd or off, she would try to address it with his circle, but they would disregard her concerns. As she has said before, she claims that ZB surrounds himself with "yes" men, and they would not recognize that maybe some of these behaviors were not normal as they valued their jobs or being friends with him.
"I would try and have these conversations with his circle and it was just an echo chamber of, 'Oh, he's a tortured soul.' He's just this. He's just that. But it's like, no, he's just a bad person. You don't get to blame treating people horribly on your tortured soul. Just because you can write a song doesn't mean you can abuse people."
While Brianna is healing from this relationship, I am sure there is something therapeutic about sharing her experience with other women who might be going through the same thing.
At the time of writing, ZB has remained silent on the allegations made toward him since sharing his breakup statement and is focused on his music.
@cliptothechase Bri says she was blinded by Zach’s fame #briannalapaglia #briannachickenfry #bffspod #briannachickenfryandzachbryan #graceomalley #planbripodcast #planbri #alixearle #alixearlepodcast #hotmesspodcast #unwellnetwork #zachbryanandbriannachickenfry #zachbryan ♬ original sound - Clip to the Chase