I guess it’s spill the tea about Zach Bryan time.
Earlier this week, John Moreland raised eyebrows when he took a shot at Zach – who he collaborated with for a song just last year. It was announced a few days ago that Zach had inked a deal to sell his publishing catalog for $350 MILLION, while also signing a new deal with Warner Records to record two more albums. And apparently Moreland wasn’t impressed.
The always-outspoken former Zach Bryan collaborator, who joined him on “Memphis; The Blues” on Zach’s album The Great American Bar Scene, took to social media after news spread of Zach’s new deal to give his thoughts. It was short but very much to the point:
“$350 M is a lot of money to pay for the f***** off-brand version of me. Y‘all have a great day”
It was a little weird to see Moreland take such a public shot at Zach, which led some (including us) to wonder whether it was just two friends joking around, busting each others’ balls a little bit, or whether it was truly a shot at Zach. But then Zach made it clear that it wasn’t just a friendly jab when he took to his own Instagram to address the comments from Moreland… and it sounds like he was completely blindsided.
Zach also said that he would be removing his collab with Moreland from his album:
“Yooo just saw this from an artist I’ve always respected and supported. Not trying to be dramatic but refuse to have anyone with a problem with me on my records. Replacing Memphis the Blues. If it goes down for a bit just know this is the reason!
No hard feelings! Confused as s**t, Tulsans look out for Tulsans!”
He then followed it up with one last comment:
“Last thing I say on it! Not partial to arguing with butt hurt grown men”
Zach also clarified that he would be re-releasing the song once Moreland was removed. Of course we’ve heard a lot of stories about Zach in the past, especially from his ex-girlfriend Brianna Chickenfry, so the natural question was raised: What exactly did Zach do for Moreland to call him out like that?
Then John responded…
In a video posted to his Instagram story, Moreland explained that he hadn’t met Zach when he was asked to be on the album:
“Just a really big artist from where I’m from asking me to be on a record, cool.”
Moreland says that he didn’t have the greatest impression of Zach after their first meeting, but says at that point it was “no big deal.”
Afterwards though, he hung out with him a few more times, and…well, I’ll let Moreland explain it from here:
“At this point I’ve hung out with him five, six times. I don’t like this motherf*****. Am I supposed to be upset? If I was asked to be on the album today I wouldn’t do it.
I don’t want to be on an album with a dude who is a d***head to my wife and my friends right in front of me every time I see him. I don’t want to be on an album with a dude who I’ve heard tell borderline racist jokes more than once. I don’t want to be on an album with a dude who brings a 19-year old girl in the bar, and then when they tell him she can’t be in there, looks at me like I’m supposed to have his f***** back. I don’t like that person.
That’s who thinks I’m an a**hole? Fine. As far as I’m concerned, getting kicked off a Zach Bryan album is way f****** cooler than being on a Zach Bryan album.”
Well I guess that explains his feelings towards Zach.
And another artist who has opened for Zach before, Drayton Farley, is seemingly spilling some more tea on X about his experience with the country superstar. He didn’t name any names, but very much implied it was about Zach, recalling hanging out with him in 2021 during a show they were doing together, saying he who shall not be named, if you will, was flirting with his wife and talking about ruin certain artists careers:
“In ‘21 while opening for him he was backstage telling my wife how cute he thought she was and how much he loves mother’s. He also said things about other artist friends of mine along the lines of ‘I’ll make sure I ruin their career.’
He’s even personally texted another artist friend of mine demanding that they remove a simple social media post they made about them opening an upcoming show for him (they made their post because he didn’t even put their name on the show flyer).
I have no reason to respect people that have no respect for me and I won’t. Deceivers deceive, artists make art, and mediocrity is often rewarded. ‘Plastic flowers, plastic business.'”
I mean, it doesn’t exactly paint him in a great light, especially considering Moreland’s story, as well as others we’ve heard. But there’s always two sides to everything so I think that’s also important to keep in mind. Nevertheless, there seems to be a lot of folks who have similar negative experiences with ZB.
In ‘21 while opening for him he was backstage telling my wife how cute he thought she was and how much he loves mother’s. He also said things about other artist friends of mine along the lines of “I’ll make sure I ruin their career”
He’s even personally texted another artist…
— Drayton Farley (@ahardupvibe) May 11, 2025
A fan replied to Farley’s post, saying:
John didn’t need to make that first statement. Should’ve just ignored it. We know he’s not a good person. Not new news.
— man in the arena (@SDYoutubers) May 11, 2025
Farley then responded and said he felt as though it was fair to call him out, not wanting to continue “turning a blind eye” to behavior he doesn’t feel is right:
Sometimes turning a blind eye can get people hurt or keep others in a cycle of getting hurt. Either way it’s not my grass to cut, but I can’t personally say that he didn’t need to make that statement.
— Drayton Farley (@ahardupvibe) May 11, 2025
Drayton also posted something about how he didn’t need to name any names for people to know exactly who he is talking about:
It’s the fact that I didn’t even say anyone’s name in that post… some stories just tell themselves.
— Drayton Farley (@ahardupvibe) May 11, 2025
It honestly sucks to hear things like this, and considering all the Brianna Chickenfry drama that has ensued as well, Zach continues to be painted in a bad light, and has offered little-to-no explanation or defense in terms of if these stories about him are true, which only makes it more suspicious.
