🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
Country singer Zach Bryan felt overwhelmed during the Bud Light furor, especially when fellow singer Travis Tritt "came after him."
Bryan, 27, appeared on Joe Rogan's podcast where they kicked off the episode by drinking Bud Light beer, saying "there's nothing wrong with it" and joked about the "culture war" dividing the country which Rogan said was "silly."
The singer spoke about defending transgender people, including his "sister's spouse" and the "scary" backlash he faced for speaking up.
A long-running boycott of the beer brand started in April when it sent commemorative, not-for-sale cans to transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney with her face on them to mark the one-year anniversary of starting her gender affirming transition.
It sparked a backlash amongst conservatives and divided country music stars including Tritt and Bryan.
Tritt reacted to the collaboration by banning any drinks from Bud Light's parent company, Anheuser-Busch, on his tour rider. A rider is a list of requirements provided by artists when performing, including food, drinks, room setup, and any other needs they may have for them and their entourage.
"I will be deleting all Anheuser-Busch products from my tour hospitality rider. I know many other artists who are doing the same," he tweeted in April.
Later, Bryan tweeted his thoughts on the matter by objecting to anti-transgender sentiment that has been sweeping the country, including a record breaking year for anti-LGBTQ laws being introduced to state legislatures across the country.
"I mean no disrespect towards anyone specifically, I don't even mind @Travistritt," Bryan tweeted in April. "I just think insulting transgender people is completely wrong because we live in a country where we can all just be who we want to be. It's a great day to be alive I thought."
He later added: "I just have family transitioning and have blood to defend here. No one threaten me pls," and in a follow-up tweet wrote: "I'm on no one's side ol sons, I love God and my family and don't like when people are being insulted. We're all just doing our best, hope everyone can relax someday soon."
Bryan added that it was "absolutely terrifying that saying 'insulting others is wrong' is reason enough for people to get so evil so quick."
Tritt caught wind of Bryan's tweets and suggested on Twitter they have a face-to-face chat about it at a music festival where they would both be playing.
"Zach, been trying to reach out to you through your manager," he said. "Since we are both playing the Two Step Inn Festival in Georgetown, TX this Saturday, I was hoping we could chat in person. I will be there all day on Saturday."
During his appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience episode which aired on Tuesday, Bryan described what happened when they met.
"I've been drinking Budweiser and Bud Light my entire adult life and on Twitter defended my sister's spouse and people were p******, it was crazy," Bryan began.
"And Travis Tritt came after me, [well] he didn't come after me. Travis Tritt he's so respectable and he's like a good guy. And I met him at Two Step Inn... and it was just cool to get to talk to him about it and to see two different views."
Rogan replied by saying: "The culture war in this country is so goofy and overblown and a lot of people in this country are just not talking to each other. Talking to each other through social media and narratives."
Bryan admitted the backlash "freaks me out" and "being so public, it's just so scary and I think it stops people from being who they are."
About the writer
Shannon Power is a Greek-Australian reporter, but now calls London home. They have worked as across three continents in print, ... Read more