The Swifties have entered the chat.
Well, re-entered the chat. Taylor Swift fans already had it out for Zach Bryan after he recently found himself in hot water for tweeting that he thought rapper Kanye West was better than the pop superstar.
Obviously Swifties weren’t too happy with that take, not only because they take any shade towards Taylor as a personal insult, but also because of the history between Kanye and Taylor dating all the way back to the infamous VMAs moment. Zach ended up issuing several apologies, and ultimately pulling his usual move of deleting his social media account, but Swifties weren’t ready to move on that easily.
Then, all of the drama surrounding the breakup between Zach and his girlfriend, Barstool Sports personality Brianna Chickenfry, began to come to light after Brianna took to her BFFs podcast and revealed some less-than-flattering stories. I’m sure you’ve heard about it by now, but basically, she accused Zach of being emotionally abusive, jealous, and just an all around shitty person.
Brianna’s podcast co-hosts, Josh Richards and Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, also released a brutal diss track taking aim at Zach, after Portnoy previously revealed that he’s never been a fan of Zach:
“I was never a liker. How do you like that? I was never a liker…
I think he’s a fraud. Every time I met him I was not comfortable with him. Certain guys where you’re like, ‘Ok I kinda like this guy, he’s a gives good vibes guy.’ This guy never gave that vibe to me.”
Of course Portnoy is also a dedicated Swiftie himself, and he even called out Brianna on the podcast when Zach dissed Taylor. So naturally Swifties are taking Brianna (and Dave’s) side, and have turned their attention to Zach – and his music.
The pop star’s fans are now accusing Zach of blatantly ripping off several of Taylor’s songs, pointing out similarities Zach’s music.
And honestly, some of them sound like a stretch to me.
For example, they’re claiming that Zach’s “Pink Skies” is a rip off of Taylor Swift’s “Betty.”
And they also think that his song “Better Days” featuring John Mayer copied Taylor’s “Dear John,” which was, ironically, written about John Mayer after a brief romance between the two.
And honestly, I don’t really hear it so much in those two. Are they similar? Sure. But only because they’re similar styles of music. I don’t really hear them as a “copy” of one another.
But the most interesting of the songs that Swifties have uncovered is “Let You know” from Zach’s 2020 Quiet Heavy Dreams EP and Taylor’s massive hit “Should’ve Said No” from her 2006 self-titled debut album.
Take a listen – because the similarities are pretty undeniable on this one.
And Swifties in the comments are entirely convinced that Zach ripped off Taylor for his music:
“One song, coincidence. Two songs, purposely. THREE SONGS, ARE TOU KIDDING ME?!?!?”
“This one feels on purpose”
“The way it’s literally the same song”
“This is legit the same”
“I usually don’t hear similar songs but these sound soooo alike”
Now, did Zach copy Taylor, or is this just a case of two songs sounding similar because there are only so many notes and rhythms you can put together to make a song? Or are Swifties just looking for reasons to attack Zach right now after everything that’s happened over the past few weeks and months?
Well, you can take a listen and decide for yourself. But it sound be no surprise that Dave Portnoy has already chimed in – and you can guess whose side he’s on:
