The messy breakup between Barstool Sports personality Brianna LaPaglia and singer Zach Bryan got even more serious this week.
In the latest episode of BFFs, the Barstool podcast, LaPaglia cohosts with founder Dave Portnoy and social media influencer Josh Richards, she revealed new allegations of the emotional abuse she says she suffered at the hands of Bryan. After their breakup in October, LaPaglia also explained why she turned down Bryan’s offer of a 10-figure non-disclosure agreement (NDA).
The podcaster, who also hosts Plan Bri Uncut for Barstool, previously released a video after Bryan suddenly announced their breakup on Instagram on Oct. 22. In a follow-up at the beginning of the latest BFFs episode, a “gutted” LaPaglia said she was offered an NDA. Later in the episode, Portnoy revealed the exact offer was $12 million, and LaPaglia explained why she turned it down.
“It was a moral battle,” LaPaglia said. “The last year of my life has been the hardest year of my life dealing with the abuse from this dude … this isn’t me not signing the NDA or not taking the money because I want to get on here and expose who he is and his secrets and all that s***. I didn’t sign the NDA, I didn’t take the money, because I’m not signing away my experiences and what I went through to protect someone that hurt me.”
Bri turned down a $12,000,000 NDA from Zach Bryan after they broke up pic.twitter.com/Lkf7cPa5As
— BFFs (@BFFsPod) November 8, 2024
LaPaglia indicated Bryan’s previous exes took an NDA from him, but aside from the emotional disgust she felt with the offer, she knew her career in the limelight meant her fans and audience would want to know the authentic truth. With an NDA, giving it to them would have been impossible.
Beyond the fallout with the NDA, LaPaglia also opened up on new details of the toxicity of her year-long relationship with Bryan.
“After the four months of the love-bombing, being the loviest, best dude ever, it just all of a sudden switched,” LaPaglia said. “There was always another excuse as to why he was treating me so poorly and why I’m crying myself to sleep every night while he’s screaming at me.”
LaPaglia detailed how Bryan exerted control over her public image, family relationships, and sense of self. The “emotional abuse” fluctuated over time but became most devastating when she traveled with him on tour for most of 2024.
At one point when the relationship was on the rocks, LaPaglia said Bryan offered to pay her directly and effectively buy her out of her Barstool in order to exert greater control over her.
Still, LaPaglia said she held back some of the most explicit memories.
“There’s a lot that he did that I’m not saying,” LaPaglia said. “And it’s almost like because it’s so hard, I don’t even want it out there. And I don’t want to relive it. I genuinely just want this to rest.”
Earlier in the week, Portnoy and Richards released a diss track toward Bryan in defense of LaPaglia. The video was copyright struck on YouTube because it included sound owned by Warner Music Group. In response, Portnoy vowed to pile on with a new song soon.
Given that LaPaglia waited this long to discuss Bryan and the breakup publicly and kept her comments fairly limited on BFFs, it’s clear she is ready for the situation to fully come to an end, despite turning down the NDA.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is an Editorial Lead at Awful Announcing overseeing digital content and special projects. He lives in Phoenix and has covered sports media for Awful Announcing since 2023.