After that notorious Oklahoma music festival where Zach Bryan scaled a fence to try to fight Gavin Adcock, fans were buzzing about why Adcock backed away without fighting Bryan back.
Adcock has said that he was about to perform when the near-brawl took place, and he simply didn’t want to have to cancel his set because he’d gotten hurt or arrested fighting Bryan.
But most of the commenters on his video explanation didn’t buy it.
It’s hard to blame them. Adcock’s a lot of things, but level-headed isn’t typically one of ’em. What do you mean the singer who once faceplanted into a crowd mid-show, went scorched earth on Charley Crockett and threatened Nickelback’s sound engineer saw Bryan charging at him, took a deep breath and thought, “Let’s think about the bigger picture“?
Read More: Gavin Adcock Explains Why He Didn’t Fight Zach Bryan Back
But ahead of the 2025 CMA Awards, Adcock stopped by to chat with Taste of Country’s Evan Paul, and he explained some more details about the day Bryan confronted him.
Those details just might explain why Adcock was uncharacteristically cool-headed about meeting his social media nemesis face to face.
What Happened the Day That Zach Bryan Tried to Fight Gavin Adcock?
Turns out, Adcock says he got a heads-up from the festival that Bryan was planning to confront him, hours before the incident ever occurred.
“The festival told me that morning, ‘Yeah, Zach’s gonna be here, so just be prepared. He’s gonna try to do something to get you to not play the show,'” Adcock recounts.
Read More: Zach Bryan Hops Fence, Tries to Fight Gavin Adcock at Oklahoma Festival
So Adcock knew ahead of time that Bryan’s endgame wasn’t just to settle their beef — it was also to allegedly prevent Adcock from taking the stage. That made it easier for him to resist falling for it.
He also kept people around him who he knew would help him stay cool-headed.
“I had that on my mind all day, and had a crew of people around me that was just keeping me level-headed about it,” Adcock says.
That didn’t keep him from taunting Bryan in the moment. “When he showed up and everybody had the cameras rolling, I figured I’d p–s him off as much as I could,” the singer continues.
Adcock later posted video of the moment to his own social media, writing in the caption, “Eat a snickers bro.”
That moment kind of backfired, though, since many of the commenters seemed to feel like Adcock was all talk on social media, but eager to walk away from the physical fight in the moment.
Is Gavin Adcock’s Beef With Zach Bryan Over?
“Probably not,” Adcock says with a laugh, when asked if the two have settled their differences.
He’s also not against the idea of brawling with Bryan again — presumably, sometime when he’s not set to take the stage shortly afterward.
“If I saw him across the room, we’d probably both be headed that way,” Adcock adds.
Why Are Zach Bryan + Gavin Adcock Fighting?
Bryan and Adcock’s feud started — at least, publicly — after Bryan lashed out at a fan on social media who was disappointed not to get a picture or hug after waiting near the stage at his show.
Adcock said that Bryan was ungrateful for his fans, and pointed out that this particular person was apparently only 14 years old.
Read More: Who Was Right? Fans Divided Over Zach Bryan’s Heated Response to 14-Year-Old Concertgoer
He also objected to Bryan using the phrase “GOMD,” which stands for “get off my d–k,” in his response to the teenage fan.
Adcock fired off some more shots at Bryan during a late-August appearance on Rolling Stone’s Nashville Now podcast.
In that conversation, Adcock said he thinks Bryan “puts on a big mask in his day-to-day life and sometimes he can’t help but rip it off and show his true colors.”
“I don’t know if Zach Bryan’s really that great of a person,” he added.
10 Gavin Adcock Songs Every New Fan Should Hear
A traditionalist at heart who’s also not afraid to push genre boundaries and incorporate novel sounds, Gavin Adcock is walking his own line in country music.
What other country artists incorporate grunge rock, blues and yodeling — sometimes even in the same song? Keep reading for a primer on the 10 best Gavin Adcock songs to listen to if you want to get a taste of what this buzzy newcomer is all about.
Gallery Credit: Carena Liptak
Zach Bryan Facts: 10 Things Country Fans Need to Know
Gallery Credit: Billy Dukes
