She certainly created some very interesting headlines. About a week ago, Grace Brassel, who is Shane Gillis’ ex-girlfriend, spilled a lot of tea, so to speak, about the seemingly incredibly toxic Zach Bryan and Brianna Chickenfry relationship.
Of course, Zach Bryan went through a very public breakup with Barstool Sports personality Brianna Chickenfry, when the two of them split in the fall of 2024 and it made tons of headlines when Brianna aired it all out on her BFFs podcast with Dave Portnoy and Josh Richards. Grace experienced some of it firsthand, as there was some overlap when she was dating Shane (they split in 2025) and Bri was still dating Zach, but a recent podcast appearance gave fans the first real 3rd party perspective on the wild “he said, she said” breakup story.
She certainly did not have positive things to say about him on the For the Girls with Becca Moore podcast, and she stated simply when the topic came up:
“Zach Bryan… he should be in prison. I was around it… listen, I watched [Brianna] got through it in public.”
Grace called Bryan “crazy” multiple times, and she says she wondered why Shane wanted to be such good friends with him:
“I know Shane’s friends with Zach, hey Zach, I know you’re watching this too… Shane just thinks it’s funny because he’s such a crazy drunk. I’m like, ‘Dude, he’s crazy.’ He’s like, ‘I know, but it’s so funny because he’s so drunk and weird.’
That’s not funny, he’s an abuser. He’s literally an abuser. I remember when he did a show… also, they do shows together, so we might have to cut this out because they’re like, bestie besties…”
She also recalled Zach being “scary” and “dark” the first time she met him, and she felt bad for Bri because she could tell she wasn’t in a great place and was putting up with a lot:
“Bri, I remember meeting him, was so scary. Like, he is a very scary, dark, dark sided kind of stuff going on there. And poor Bri, because I always knew her as being so funny and so outgoing and so cute, whatever, and she was, you could tell, almost like a ghost out other body, so skinny.
Just trying her best. And I don’t know, it’s not f****** fair, it pisses me off too. I remember when I met him, so many people who were around him could not believe… just from spending three days around him, it was very jarring.”
Of course, there’s two sides to every story, but the women I’ve heard recall stories from this relationship never paint him a good light, at all, and Grace says she even cried over it because she felt so bad for Bri. She revealed a lot more about Zach and some of the wild moments she remembers when the two couples hung out together if you watch the full conversation.
But in a recent video on TikTok, Grace explained that there were parts of her first podcast appearance she didn’t love.
She took to the social media app to share her thoughts on the podcast, saying she talked about some very personal topics and wanted to be “respectful and kind” regarding her relationship and some of the stories, which she feels she accomplished, but her main goal was to give people a peak into her personality so they would move on following her breakup with Gillis.
It sounds like she might still be getting comments from people online and that was an attempt to show people another side of her, but considering how the internet is, it’s probably a little naive to think it would be that simple to fix or stop negative comments, but still, I can’t say I blame her for trying I guess…
Grace explained to her followers that she had a hard time watching the episode back because she didn’t feel she looked “articulate or smart,” and she will seemingly not be talking about any of the topics that made headlines anymore if she goes on another podcast:
“… I said the word ‘like’ a thousand times, I kept saying, ‘I’m so funny,’ and it’s like, girl, tell a joke if you’re funny. The whole time, I’m thinking… how are people going to view this? Some people thought I was really nice, and some people thought I didn’t do so great, and that’s alright, we keep on pushing.
I don’t care if people are saying crazy s*** about me or they don’t like me, because obviously, they are getting one percent of me, they don’t know me in real life, dadada, all these things. The one thing that really upset me and triggered me was that I didn’t seem like I was articulate or smart, or could have a whole thought. That was really difficult for me to watch back.
I’m a lot of things, but I’m not stupid. I’m really good at writing and English. So now, I look like a freaking ditz. If I ever do a podcast again… I won’t be talking about that stuff. With peace and love, if you guys want any information on that, you’re gonna have to die, because there’s no more information, you guys, I love you.”
I didn’t watch the entire episode, but I think she’s being a lot harder on herself than she should, and I would never want to watch myself back in a setting like that, so I can sympathize with how hard that could be. But if there is anymore tea to be shared about Bri and Zach, and I’m sure there is considering how close Grace said Shane and Zach are and were when she was dating Shane, we probably won’t be hearing it anytime soon…
@gracejohanna Addressing the feedback from the podcast I did @For the Girls: the Podcast! ♬ original sound – Grace Brassel
The full podcast episode is available below.
