He’s had feuds with Brianna Chickenfry, Gavin Adcock and John Moreland — but Zach Bryan‘s new dust-up with the U.S. government is a bizarre turn of events, even for an artist who’s known for being contentious.
This particular beef seems pretty one-sided. Long story short, Bryan teased a song that criticized the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Department of Homeland Security didn’t take kindly to his lyrics.
Now, the department is openly trolling Bryan — and the singer seems just as baffled as everyone else about how things escalated this far.
What Did Zach Bryan Say About ICE In His Song?
Last weekend, Bryan shared a snippet of an unreleased song to social media, captioning the post, “The fading of the red white and blue.”
The track conveys some existential weariness at the state of the nation.
Read More: Zach Bryan Teases a Fiery New Song
In it, Bryan describes cops as “cocky motherf–kers.”
“ICE is gonna come bust down your door / Try and build a house no one builds no more / But I got a telephone / Kids are all scared and all alone,” he sings.
“The middle finger’s rising and it won’t stop showin’ / Got some bad news / The fading of the red, white and blue,” he adds in another lyrics.
What Was the Reaction to Zach Bryan’s Song Tease?
Bryan doesn’t allow comments on his Instagram posts, so fans couldn’t weigh in on this song in the comments section.
However, the post yielded over 168,000 likes as of Wednesday. morning (Oct. 8) — implying that there are a lot of listeners out there who agreed with Bryan’s seeming disapproval of ICE.
In the days that followed, government officials also started sharing their reactions to the song.
On Tuesday (Oct. 7), Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told conservative podcaster Benny Johnson that Bryan’s lyrics were “completely disrespectful…not just to law enforcement but to this country.”
“To every individual that has stood up and fought for our freedoms,” Noem said (quote via the New York Post. “He just compromised it all by putting out a product such as that, that attacks individuals who are just trying to make our streets safe.”
What Did the Department of Homeland Security Say About Zach Bryan’s Song?
DHS Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin responded to TMZ‘s request for comment on the situation, saying Bryan should “stick to ‘Pink Skies.'”
That’s a reference to one of Bryan’s most famous songs.
On Tuesday, DHS also shared a bizarre compilation video of ICE raids and arrests to its X page, set to Bryan’s popular song “Revival.”
“We’re having an All Night Revival,” the caption reads, quoting Bryan’s lyrics.
What Did the White House Say About Zach Bryan’s Song?
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson also had a couple of Bryan song references at the ready as she shared an official statement to Newsweek.
“While Zach Bryan wants to Open the Gates to criminal illegal aliens and has Condemned heroic ICE officers, Something in the Orange tells me a majority of Americans disagree with him and support president Trump’s Great American Revival,” Jackson said.
What Did Zach Bryan Say About the Reaction to His Song?
In two Instagram Stories slides, Bryan said he was “not only embarrassed but kind of scared” by just how much vitriol his song incurred.
The singer said the response spoke to just how deeply divided the nation is right now.
Zach Bryan
“Left wing or right wing we’re all one bird and American,” Bryan wrote. “To be clear I’m on neither of these radical sides.”
“This song is about how much I love this country and everyone in it more than anything,” he continued. “When you hear the rest of the song, you will understand the full context that hits on both sides of the aisle.”
He also pointed out that he’s a military veteran — Bryan enlisted in the U.S. Navy at 17 years old — and also said that he teased another portion of the song a few months ago, and it didn’t get the same response without the lyrics aimed at ICE.
Zach Bryan, Instagram
In a separate slide, Bryan spoke to the various forms of scrutiny that have affected him in recent months.
The best-known of those is perhaps his breakup with Brianna Chickenfry, who accused him of emotional abuse and claimed he offered her $12 million to sign an NDA promising not to talk about their relationship.
Read More: A Full Timeline of Zach Bryan + Brianna Chickenfry’s Messy Breakup
“I feel like I’ve tried my hardest in so many ways and it’s hard to see where my bearings even are anymore,” he said, speaking generally about his experience of being in the public eye.
But ultimately, Bryan underscored his love for the U.S.A. and his love for free speech.
“I am SO proud to have served in a country where we can all speak freely and converse amongst each other without getting doxxed or accosted on the Internet or worse; the violence and heartbreak we’ve faced in the past few months!” the singer concluded.
