You ever wake up and find yourself at the center of a viral internet meltdown without even knowing it? That’s the kind of day Tyler Childers just had.
While Tyler was probably somewhere in the Kentucky woods, eating venison chili and minding his own damn business, his name and his music got dragged into the never-ending spectacle that is Zach Bryan and his ex-girlfriend Brianna Chickenfry’s breakup fallout. And to be perfectly honest, Tyler didn’t post a thing. He didn’t even blink in the general direction of this drama. But the internet did what the internet does and yanked him straight into the mess anyway.
The chaos kicked off when Brianna, whose real name is Brianna LaPaglia, jumped on the TikTok trend sparked by Childers’ song “Bitin’ List.” It’s a tongue-in-cheek track from his new Snipe Hunter album about the people he’d hypothetically bite if he ever got rabies. The song took off as a meme, with people tagging their own “bitin’ list,” and of course, Brianna, Deb Peifer (another one of Zach’s exes), and even his ex-wife Rose Madden all posted videos lip-syncing to it. No captions needed. The internet ran wild with it.
Naturally, folks assumed all three were throwing shade at Zach. And maybe they were. Maybe they weren’t. Deb literally responded to a comment saying, “No one at all, it’s a good song, I’m a Tyler Childers fan!!!” But by then, the TikTok sleuths had already assembled their conspiracy boards and lit their torches.
Then Zach took things up a notch. He posted an Instagram Story of himself setting a “Saturdays Are for the Boys” Barstool Sports flag on fire, which is the unofficial frat-house slogan of Brianna’s employer. He hit a golf ball off it for good measure. All while “Bitin’ List” played in the background, with Childers’ voice singing, “To put it plain, I just don’t like you.”
That’s when things spiraled. Some fans suddenly believed Tyler was involved. A few even claimed he commented on Zach’s post. In reality, it was a fake Instagram account impersonating Childers. The real one is @timmytychilders, not the bogus @tylerchilders. A classic case of online smoke and mirrors.
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The truth? Tyler Childers didn’t weigh in. His management runs his TikTok. He’s not posting about burned flags or ex-girlfriend drama. The man is probably out in a tree stand with a busted Thermos and a pocketknife, listening to Townes Van Zandt and worrying about absolutely none of this. He just wrote a song that’s funny, sharp, and true to his voice—and now it’s become the accidental soundtrack to a breakup saga he’s likely unaware of.
Meanwhile, Brianna is out here calling Zach an “evil villain” for waking up and deciding to burn things. She posted a video of herself locking the doors and Googling how to file a restraining order. Dave Portnoy got in on it too, sarcastically reposting the video with “How are we gonna recover?” as the caption.
And Zach? He’s back on Twitter/X, saying he missed “ruining his life with tweets” and arguing with 14-year-old fans about why he didn’t take pictures with them outside MetLife Stadium. When a fan said he was disappointed Zach didn’t stop and say hi, Zach told him to “GOMD,” which earned him a round of online backlash from other artists and fans.
Tyler Childers’ only real offense here? Releasing a song that struck a nerve with the terminally online. And doing it so well, no one could leave it alone.
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