Zach Bryan's ex Brianna LaPaglia says Sports Illustrated photo shoot is ‘favorite f--- you’ to country singer
Brianna "Chickenfry" LaPaglia "is not asking for anyone’s permission."
The 25-year-old podcast host made her Sports Illustrated Swimsuit debut on the cover of the January digital issue, and while the social media influencer sees the photo spread as an opportunity to move forward after a difficult breakup with ex-boyfriend Zach Bryan, she also wants a little revenge.
"It is just, on a petty level, my favorite f--- you," she told Sports Illustrated in the interview, titled "Brianna LaPaglia is Not Asking for Anyone’s Permission."
ZACH BRYAN'S EX BRIANNA LAPGLIA WOWS IN REVENGE DRESS AS SHE WEARS OFF DATING
She added, "This is me, and I wanted to do this, and now I’m on the digital cover."
LaPaglia has been vocal about the deterioration of her relationship with the country music star, which she described as emotionally abusive, even claiming that Bryan’s team offered her $12 million to sign a nondisclosure agreement after their breakup.
The two began dating in the summer of 2023 and broke up last fall.
LaPaglia said speaking out about her struggles in her relationship led to women reaching out to her to talk about their own experiences with emotional abuse.
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"During the hardest time of my life, it’s probably been one of the most rewarding things that has ever happened to me, to be able to help people in a way that I feel is a lot more meaningful than what my old content was," LaPaglia said. "I know posting silly stuff and having fun videos for people to watch is also helpful, and it helps people get out of the reality, but to actually change lives with coming forward and being able to give people a shoulder to lean on, or a person to cry to, it’s just out of this world."
Still, there are people on social media who do not believe her story about Bryan or who accuse her of speaking out for publicity.
"I just wish I could hang out with each of my haters one-on-one, to be honest," she told SI. "I’d say, ‘I wish you could just see me for who I actually am, not this like reflection of the s--- cycle on TikTok, where it’s just being fed into an algorithm — it wouldn’t even be possible for you to see a positive video of me at this point, because once you’re on the negative side, it’s all that’s fed to you.’"
She is also a bit tired of TikTok itself and is not sweating the impending U.S. ban.
"How I’m feeling right now is I’m like, Pop a bottle of champagne! Let's get rid of this horrible, hateful, app," she joked.
She also said she is done hanging out with A-list celebrities.
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"My life for a year was hanging out with all these famous people and doing all these extravagant things, and, if anything, their lives seem a lot s----ier than my family’s back home, where they are just regular people who are happy and alive."
LaPaglia told the magazine that Bryan made her feel like she needed to "dim myself down."
"When I walk into a room, I want to talk to everyone," she said. "When the relationship first started, that became a problem for him; I was talking too much, or I was being too much, and maybe the spotlight was not on him enough."
Now that the relationship is over, she feels like her old self again.
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"I’m walking down the street, I’m at the crosswalk—I’m sparking up a conversation," she said. "I’m in the bodega, talking to the bodega guy for 20 minutes too long now. I’m finally talking to my hairdresser again, where I used to just sit in the chair. I’m finding that little spark of life back in myself now that one person that felt like a doom cloud over me at all times is gone."
It is also not lost on her that she was supposed to host Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue’s 60th anniversary red carpet last year but backed out at the last moment because Bryan told her it would be "trashy."
"It's a lot more than me looking quote-unquote hot in a swimsuit—it’s me reclaiming who I am as a woman, reclaiming my body and my decisions and my choices," she told the magazine. "This cover is me being me again and taking control of my life. This is my body; my body isn’t that experience, and even though I’m not 100% in it right now, this is me. This doesn’t have anything to do with anybody else."
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Fox News Digital has reached out to Bryan for comment.