“'BFFs' Hosts Dave Portnoy and Josh Richards Release Zach Bryan Diss Track”

Nothing says BFFs like a diss track with full production quality. At least that's what Barstool podcast hosts Dave Portnoy and Josh Richards seem to think.

While the rest of the United States awaited the results of the 2024 presidential election, Richards and Portnoy – who co-host the weekly pop culture podcast “Barstool BFFs” with Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia – released a dissident title called “Smallest Man” calling for direct election takes over the goal is to approach country singer Zach Bryan about his breakup with LaPaglia.

“I said, trust me, your pants caught fire/Tinder Bumble Raya, knew you were a liar/You're an idiot, you just made yourself a new rival/Soon you need a revival,” the two sing in Cop costumes, complete with ridiculous fake mustaches. In the video, which has since been removed from Instagram and Facebook. Portnoy and Richards, dressed like police officers for most of the video, make their accusations to the face of an actor who looks like Bryan, disparaging the country singer's looks, tattoos and demeanor. It also includes real audio recordings of Bryan's arrest in Oklahoma in 2023 and references resurfaced tweets in which Bryan criticizes Taylor Swift. “I think you're on some shit tryna diss Taylor Swift / Wrote a hundred gram stories and apologized like a bitch,” they rap.

BFFs has been on hiatus since last week when LaPaglia announced they would be skipping at least one recording so she could focus on her mental health during her breakup with Bryan. The singer-songwriter is best known for his growing country music fan base. After going viral in 2019 with a grainy video of him singing his original song “Heading South,” Bryan quickly became a staple of the genre, eventually winning the 2024 Grammy for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for his Duet “I Remember Everything” with Kacey Musgraves. (He was recently on the cover of Rolling Stone's annual edition of Musicians on Musicians with Bruce Springsteen.)

LaPaglia and Bryan were first spotted together at the 2023 American Music Awards and dated for about a year before Bryan announced their split on his Instagram Story in late October. “Brianna and I have separated and I respect and love her with all my heart,” he wrote. “She loved me unconditionally for a very long time and I will always thank her for that. I've personally had an incredibly tough year and have had to go through some pretty bad things. I thought it would be beneficial for both of us if we took different paths. I am not perfect and never will be. To all that I am and to everyone I have let down, I am sorry. I try my best in everything. I have let down people who love me and especially myself.”

LaPaglia claimed she was surprised by the public announcement. “I had no idea this post was going to blow up,” she said in a short video posted to YouTube, eventually crying. “I’m completely taken by surprise.”

After making several comments about Bryan's character for breaking up with LaPaglia, Portnoy took it a step further. The dissident track cleverly (at times) takes aim at Bryan's past mistakes while also managing to reference both his biggest hits and other country stars like Tyler Childers and Noah Kahan. But perhaps the biggest sin of all is that podcast hosts also accused Bryan of throwing Portnoy's rescue dog Peaches out of his dressing room during a show.

The music video has since been removed from YouTube and Instagram due to a copyright claim by Warner Music Group (Bryan is signed to Warner Music Group and has not responded). Rolling Stone's request for comment), but the audio is currently streaming on Spotify. Portnoy and Richards also announced this BFFs would return with a new episode on Thursday at 8 p.m., meaning fans wanting to learn more about LaPaglia's breakup might finally get their chance.