Class act.
I’m sure by now everyone knows that Gavin Adcock was at Born & Raised Fest in Oklahoma over the weekend. The big story from his appearance was, of course, his confrontation with Zach Bryan, which ended with Zach jumping a barbed wire fence to try to fight him before being held back by security.
@greatamericanbarscene This is for Charley #zachbryan #gavinadcock
But that’s not what we’re here to talk about, because what really should be getting the attention is the announcement that Gavin made during his show.
Last week was obviously a rough one for our country, not only with the high-profile assassination of conservative media personality Charlie Kirk on Wednesday but with the shooting of two students at Evergreen High School in Colorado on the same day.
The shooter, who was himself a student at the school, opened fire and wounded two of his classmates before turning the gun on himself. The two students were taken to the hospital in critical condition, while the shooter passed away from the self-inflicted gunshot wound.
And during his headlining set at Born & Raised Fest, Gavin Adcock took the time to acknowledge both tragedies, while also announcing that he would be donating his merch sales from the event to the victims of the school shooting:
“I think I heard that those two kids at the Colorado school, they’re going to have some hospital bills, so we’re covering them with the merch tonight.”
@constancelashae @GavinAdcockMusic @Charlie Kirk #bornandraised
You love to see it.
Gavin gets a bad rap sometimes from people who don’t like his onstage antics, or his politics, or his feuds with other country artists, but so far he’s the only one I’ve seen publicly step up to support the victims of the latest school shooting.
If you’re going to talk smack about him when he does something you don’t like, just make sure you spend that same energy recognizing the good that he does.
Gavin Pays Tribute To Charlie Kirk
After the horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk on Wednesday, Gavin also took to X to share this thoughts on the situation – and as usual, he didn’t hold back:
“I hope that f***er that pulled the trigger feels the full force of Hell. Rip to a Family MAN with real Christian Values.”
Just like many other artists, Gavin Adcock used his platform to share a few thoughts during his concert after the horrific event. During Adcock’s show the other night in Kansas City, MO, he grabbed an American flag and shared with the crowd how our flag should protect our right to free speech and not put us in danger of violence for speaking freely.
“This flag right here represents freedom to say what you want to, to believe what you want to. And NOBODY should be f***ing shot down in broad daylight because they didn’t like something.
I think the left has been the problem the whole time. I don’t think guns kill people, I think s***ty a** people kill people. Like I said earlier, I never met the guy, but Charlie Kirk was a friend of mine, and I appreciate every single thing he said for every single American that represents freedom, Christian values, and people just treating people right in this world.”
Can say that louder for the people in the back.
@lil.ricer @GavinAdcockMusic #gavinadcock #truth #Jesussaves #charliekirk ♬ original sound – Wyatt Rice
Many fans at the show were quick to fill the comments section, noting this was not the only time that Adcock touched on his heartbreak surrounding the incident. Just like many of us, it sounds like Adcock has a heavy heart and, as always, is not afraid to voice those thoughts and feelings with his fans.
Adcock later started a Charlie Kirk chant, and I can only imagine how moving it was for those in the audience:
@abby02c @GavinAdcockMusic thank you for a great time in KC. Celebrating America in a tragic time and remembering the Hero’s of 9/11 as well. Speak your mind Gavin. Charlie is a friend to all because he was a friend of Jesus. #gavinadcockconcert #concertlove #charliekirk #usa🇺🇸 #americanfreedom #friendofus #missouri #rememberthefallen #herosof911 ♬ original sound – abby02c
Say what you want about Gavin Adcock, but he’s strong in his beliefs and championing those who share the same.
Zach Bryan Jumps A Fence To Confront Gavin
Of course the major story from Gavin over the weekend was the viral confrontation between him and Zach Bryan.
Zach was at the festival in his home state for a surprise appearance with Gabriella Rose, but after he left the backstage area and while he was apparently on his way home he decided to stop and have words with Adcock, jumping over a barbed wire before being held back by security.
The whole thing went down right before Gavin was set to go onstage for his headlining set, but after he got offstage, he took to social media and left several comments explaining what happened, claiming that Zach was “absolutely wasted” when he tried to fight him:
“Had a headline show to play. Dude was absolutely wasted. Had to do what was good for the fans. Everybody knows how that woulda ended”
@chels_b93 Staged??? Orr? What’s your thoughts!? #zachbryan #gavinadcock #drama #thoughts #viral #fyp
And in another comment on his own post, Gavin confirms that he didn’t want to fight Zach because he didn’t want to go to jail before his own headlining set:
“Had a show to play for Oklahoma. Wasn’t going to jail over that psycho.”
And he summed it up with the caption on his own TikTok post:
“Dude needs help.”
@gavinadcockmusic Dude needs help
But now, Gavin is giving us some more insight into the wild scene.
In a video posted to his social media, the rising country music star said that Zach had been backstage all day and chose to make a scene rather than confront him:
“Like I already said, I don’t think Zach Bryan’s a very good person. He wasn’t locked out of the festival. He had been there all day with his multiple security guards. He saw me standing between my buses when he got here and saw me walk on my bus when I went to watch the Georgia game.
Proceeding to go to other artists and ask them, ‘Where’s Gavin? Where’s Gavin?’ And their guests, and treat them like dogs–t. Flipping them birds and saying just douchebag stuff to them all day. So he had plenty of opportunity through the whole day to do whatever he wanted to do. But decided he was going to wait like an hour before my set while I was standing out there.”
But it wasn’t until Zach was outside the fence that he decided to confront Gavin – and Gavin admits that he had some fun with it:
“I wasn’t even mad. Didn’t even have a single reason to fight him. After he had already left before my set, I was standing outside. He pulls up in a pickup truck outside the gate and starts giving out threats. So I just decided to stir him up to the point where he jumped over the fence. I don’t think anybody’s scared of Zach Bryan. I’m just an adult and fighting him would have only meant going to jail, missing my set, and falling into a Zach Bryan lawsuit. And we all know he likes to manipulate people with money.”
Gavin also seemingly responded to some of the criticism that he wasn’t willing to fight Zach, explaining that he had a headline show to perform and didn’t want to mess it up for the fans in attendance:
“No artist that cares about their fans is going to fight right before their set, missing going on and disappointing fans that spent way too much money to be there…
And he created this whole “I’m badass jump over the fence” narrative just to try to make himself look bigger or tougher even though he could have just walked on in the gate. He had been in there all day.”
He ends by wishing Zach well:
“And at the end of the day, I know my decision I made was right. I didn’t take the Zach Bryan bait. And I’ll be praying for him to get better because he sure needs it.”
And listen, say what you want about Gavin not wanting to fight Zach, but obviously he made the right decision. He’s got a show to play, and Zach doesn’t. Gavin had a lot more to lose in that situation, and he made the smart decision in the moment. For everybody who likes to criticize his decision making, seems like he should be getting credit for that one.
If you’re not familiar with the origin of the beef between the two, it all started back in July after Zach’s three-night run at MetLife Stadium. After night two, some were disappointed that Zach didn’t come out to meet with fans after the show like he did the other two nights, and a 14-year-old fan took to TikTok to voice her disappointment with the “Something in the Orange” singer.
The girl made multiple videos about it, seemingly trying to spark a reaction, or at least some rage bait virality on the platform, and of course Zach couldn’t help himself, taking to her comments to defend himself:
“You’re not entitled after someone plays two and a half hours to a picture or a hello. I went out and took pictures both night one and night three I had a third show the next day and it was late, needed rest…. GOMD.”
Obviously, he had no idea who the person was, but telling a 14-year-old girl to “get off my d—” did not sit well with a lot of people, including Gavin Adcock.
Adcock, who has never been shy about speaking his mind, fired back at Bryan on X:
“If you can’t handle the criticism of a 14 year old why do people idolize you? That kid was head over heels to meet you and spent/parents spent a ton of money to see you. He’s got feeling too and a you’re a ‘grown man’ nearly 30. They’re the only reason you are around.”
And Adcock fired back at him once again in a recent interview with Rolling Stone on their Nashville Now podcast.
When asked about the viral tweet criticizing the “I Remember Everything” singer, Adcock explained that it wasn’t about Bryan not signing autographs but rather the “get off my d*ck” comment. The “Need To” singer would also slam Bryan, explaining that he thinks he wears a mask to hide his true colors:
“It wasn’t about not wanting to sign autographs after a show. It’s just letting a 14-year-old kid rant without saying, ‘Get off my d*ick.’ I think Zach Bryan puts on a big mask in his day-to-day life, and sometimes he can’t help but rip it off and show his true colors. I don’t know if Zach Bryan’s really that great of a person.”
Host Joseph Hudak would then jokingly remark that he won’t be opening up at any of Bryan’s coming shows. Adcock simply replied:
“I ain’t worried about it.”
Adcock would close the segment about Bryan by saying:
“I wouldn’t say Zach Bryan is my buddy. I ain’t his buddy. He ain’t my buddy. I never met the guy. Seen a bunch of stuff about him; [I’m] sure he’s seen a bunch of stuff about me. I don’t need him.”
