After receiving backlash from Taylor Swift fans, Zach Bryan understands the risks of drinking and posting online all too well.

The 28-year-old country music artist issued a detailed apology on Thursday following criticism for a post on X where he claimed that Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, was superior to Taylor Swift. In his short message on Tuesday, he also asserted that the Philadelphia Eagles are better than the Kansas City Chiefs, the team of Swift’s boyfriend, Travis Kelce.

“eagles > chiefs,” Bryan wrote in his original post, as per screenshots shared by Variety and Rolling Stone. “Kanye > Taylor. who’s with me.”

The “Something in the Orange” artist has since taken down his X account. However, he shared an apology on his Instagram story on Thursday.

“Just to clarify, I wasn’t trying to take a shot at Taylor the other night,” he confessed. “I was intoxicated and comparing two albums, and it didn’t come out right. I’m aware there are a lot of issues surrounding Ye, and I was only speaking in a musical context.”

He went on, “I genuinely appreciate Taylor’s music and hope you all realize I’m human and often say foolish things. I hope to explain this to her one day. Twitter has gotten me into trouble too many times, so I think it’s better that I stay away from it. I apologize to any Taylor fans I upset or disappointed.”

Swift has long had a notorious feud with Ye and his former spouse Kim Kardashian, dating back to the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards when the “Stronger” rapper interrupted Swift’s acceptance speech, declaring that Beyoncé deserved the best female video award. A 2016 spat over whether Swift consented to a controversial lyric about her in Ye’s track “Famous” led to a crucial phase in Swift’s career, her “Reputation” era. It seemingly inspired two tracks on her latest album, “The Tortured Poets Department.”

In 2022, Ye faced immense backlash for making a series of antisemitic comments, including telling the controversial talk show host Alex Jones, “I like Hitler.” He stated he sees “good things” about the Nazi leader responsible for the deaths of six million Jews during the Holocaust. Last year, he expressed regret to “the Jewish community for any unintended outburst caused by my words or actions.”

In his Instagram apology, Bryan explained that he has been “dealing with a difficult time” recently and that he was “projecting a bit” when he made his comments regarding Swift, which “sounded rude and insensitive.”

“I have immense respect for her as an artist, so the last thing I want is for people to think I don’t value and admire her contributions to music,” he said. “Okay, that’s the last of it!”

However, after advising fans not to “drink and tweet,” Bryan followed up with another post indicating he was listening to Swift’s song “Castles Crumbling” on Spotify.

“I’m not trying to save face, but Taylor has been a significant influence for as long as we’ve all been growing up, and I admire that,” he stated. “I’m going to listen to this album now. I never want anyone to think I have any ill will or malice towards anyone, ever. That’s why I’m saying all this.”

In his concluding remarks, Bryan mentioned that “this year has been quite tough for me personally,” and he promised to take a break from making “foolish tweets,” finish his tour, and find a way to ground himself amid everything.

Previously, Bryan was arrested in Oklahoma on a charge for obstructing an investigation. In a video that surfaced online, he acknowledged getting “too aggressive” with a police officer after his security guard was stopped. He admitted that he “acted foolishly” and behaved like an “immature child” during the incident.

“I’ll take the blame for it,” he stated. “I’m an adult, and I shouldn’t have acted that way.”

Contributing: Bryan West