Haliey Welch Says She Reached Out to Brianna LaPaglia After Zach Bryan Breakup: 'Miss Bri Did Not Deserve That'
Welch is showing her support for LaPaglia following her breakup with country singer Zach Bryan
Haliey Welch is supporting Brianna "Chickenfry" LaPaglia after her breakup with country singer Zach Bryan.
The 22-year-old internet star opened up about LaPaglia, 25, on the recent episode of her Talk Tuah podcast as she addressed rumors that she was dating Bryan, quipping it was a "bad time for that rumor to come out" amid his contentious breakup with LaPaglia.
The country star first announced their breakup on social media on Oct. 22, to which LaPaglia later said she was "blindsided" by. In a recent episode of the BFFs Podcast, LaPaglia accused the country singer of emotional abuse while they were together and alleged that he makes his exes sign NDAs about their relationship.
"I'm here for the girls," Welch said on the recent Talk Tuah episode, showing her support for LaPaglia. "Miss Bri did not deserve that."
"I felt really bad for her," she continued. "I sent her a message and she didn't respond to it, but I don't expect her to," she said, noting that she was probably already getting a lot of messages from other people.
Despite Bryan and LaPaglia's breakup, Welch said that she hoped LaPaglia would be able to "take time to heal," adding that she would "find her a good man" in the future.
LaPaglia first interviewed Welch on an episode of the Plan Bri Uncut podcast back in July. The pair spoke about Welch's viral "hawk tuah" moment and the opportunities it brought her, including the chance to join Bryan on stage during his encore performance of “Revival” in June at Nashville's Nissan Stadium.
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LaPaglia and Bryan first met in May 2023 at the Academy of Country Music Awards and officially began dating in July 2023. The pair were together for over a year when Bryan confirmed their breakup on Oct. 22 and asked for privacy for both of them.
"Brianna and me have broken up and I respect and love her with every ounce of my heart," Bryan wrote at the time. "She has loved me unconditionally for a very long time and for that I'll always thank her. I have had an incredibly hard year personally and struggled through some pretty severe things. I thought it would be beneficial for both of us to go our different ways."
LaPaglia later posted that she was "blindsided" by the news and went on a social media break shortly after. She later broke her silence on the BFFs Podcast she cohosts with Dave Portnoy and Josh Richards on Nov. 7 and accused Bryan of emotionally abusing her while they were together.
She called it a constant cycle of "build you up, beat you down, apologize over and over" and said the last year was "the hardest year" of her life.
Related: Zach Bryan and Brianna Chickenfry's Relationship Timeline
Reps for LaPaglia and Bryan did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.
She added that she wanted to open up about her own experiences "for anyone else that's been emotionally abused and for people right now being emotionally abused."
"This isn't like a drama thing for me, this isn't me not signing the NDA or not taking the money because I wanna get on here and expose who he is and all that s---," she continued. "I'm not signing away my experiences and what I went through to protect someone that hurt me and I'm a lot stronger than a weak man, f-- you and f--- your money."