Zach Bryan And Warner Music Had Dave Portnoy's Diss Track Taken Down From Youtube And Spotify, And It's Now All Out War

In case you weren't paying to the biggest news in the world last night, Zach Bryan and Brianna Chickenfry broke up a couple weeks ago, and things officially hit Defcon 1 as Dave Portnoy and Josh Richards, (Bri's BFF's cohosts) dropped a diss track right on Zach's head at midnight. 

If you somehow don’t know Zach Bryan, he’s the guy who churns out heartache ballads by the truckload. This is a man whose music is like a highlight reel of emotional missteps; basically, a walking breakup anthem. But turns out, if you cross his ex, Brianna Chickenfry, you’ve got more than sad songs to worry about. Enter Dave Portnoy and Josh Richards- 

So here’s the backstory: Bryan dumped Brianna with the classic “it’s been a tough year” post on Instagram, and she claimed she was blindsided. It was bad. 

Bryan has allegedly already "moved on" with somebody else (again, it's been a tough year), so Dave and Josh weren't having it and came to their friend's defense. 

But not with a few subtweets or digs on the podcasts- no sir. They got in the booth and laid down what turned out to be some actually pretty deep digs on Bryan. 

And it goes on for five minutes. 

They went scorched earth on Bryan- bring up his drinking problems, drunk tweeting, cheating, his hairline, and even his height (Dave claims he's only 5'5" in the song). They even call out Bryan for everything from his 2023 arrest to his alleged STD spreading. I wasn't expecting Dave to hold back, but it's pretty savage. 

The name is a nod to Taylor's "The Smallest Man In The World" record, a diss aimed at Scooter Braun. The timing is no accident, either. They dropped it at midnight- a nod to Taylor’s The Tortured Poets Department album which the song is featured on. Swift fans know she’s the queen of break-up diss tracks, so this was like Portnoy channeling his inner Swift while going for Bryan’s jugular. For anyone keeping score at home, Dave’s out here in Taylor’s corner and making it crystal clear where he stands on the Chickenfry-Zach saga.

Bryan hasn’t responded yet – the man deleted his X account, and so far, he’s gone radio silent.

But it didn't stop him and/or his label, Warner Music Nashville, from panicking and issuing a DMCA Copyright claim to Youtube to have the video removed. Which they did. 

Sadly, the censorship and repression of free speech didn't end there. 

And since beginning to write this blog, Spotify has now also taken it down. (It still appears in search but its greyed out and the play button is disabled)

Now what on earth they're claiming the copyright-infringement here is, I would fucking love to know. 

As far as I'm aware, the beat was original. The lyrics are obviously their own. So what Warner is accusing Barstool of infringing upon that they own the rights to is beyond me. 

But in standard Bryan fashion, Bri confirmed that they are all now all blocked on his instagram. 

This breakup has gone from sad country song to WWE storyline, and personally I'm here for it. And so is everybody else. 

Look at the news wire.

It's just another example of why Barstool runs the show and Dave somehow always finds a way to capitalize on everything. 

(And why having Rone on the payroll is the biggest secret weapon in the game)

If you know anything about Dave, this is textbook form in how not to react. 

Zach Bryan has no choice other than to respond with a track of his own now. I don't write the rules, I'm just here to remind everybody of them. If he doesn't, he runs the risk of having his career derailed alá Drake via Kendrick. And in this case, Dave would be Kendrick. 

I mean when KFC is saying Dave "ethered you", at your own game, that's tough. 

Balls in your court Zach. 

p.s. - notable lyrics 

"You’re a douchebag / You just made a new rival / Pretty soon you’re gonna need a revival"

"You say you remember everything, I guess not because you forgot about your wedding ring"

"My fist plus your face, simple addition / The way you did her wrong, man is sickening"

"Looking for pink skies, but now you’re seeing stars / There’s something in the orange and it’s you behind these bars, bitch"

"Country singing boss baby, get that boy a snack / Throw another temper tantrum, it’s time for a nap"

"Think you’re on some shit tryna diss Taylor Swift, did a hundo ‘gram stories apologizing like a bitch"

"Consider this a warning for the next girl that dates you / We know for a fact that your whole band hates you"