Country music star Zach Bryan is trying to salvage his reputation with Swifties after he said Kanye West is better than Taylor Swift. In an X post Wednesday, Bryan cheekily wrote “eagles > chiefs,” in a nod to Swift’s partner, Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce, before adding “Kanye > Taylor who’s with me.”

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After receiving backlash for casting his lot with Ye, whose antisemitic screeds, MAGA flirtations, and palling around with white nationalists and far-right kooks have left his standing severely diminished, Bryan clarified his tweet was not serious and posted while drunk. “Guys I love Taylor,” he said, in a follow-up. “Was listening to [The Tortured Poets Department] last night and ‘Thank You Aimee’ came on and I drunkenly tweeted that about Kanye. If anyone took it serious please know I love both artists a lot and think we’re in a really beautiful time of music.” Shortly thereafter, Bryan deleted his X account, presumably to listen to Kanye in peace—stories on his Instagram account showed he was listening to “Good Life” from Ye’s 2007 album Graduation.

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