Celebrity News September 08, 2023
Country Singer Zach Bryan Apologizes Following Arrest
Zach Bryan, 27, is owning up to his mistakes following his arrest in Oklahoma.
On Thursday, TMZ reported the country star was arrested on an obstruction of investigation charge in Vinita, and posted a mug shot taken at Craig County Jail.
Afterward, he posted on Twitter, “Today I had an incident with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. Emotions got the best of me and I was out of line in the things I said. I support law enforcement as much as anyone can, I was just frustrated in the moment, it was unlike me and I apologize. They brought me to jail, and there is a mug shot of me floating around. Prayers we can all move on from this and prayers people know I’m just trying the best I can, I love you guys and I am truly sorry to the officers.”
He followed up with a detailed account of what happened, as he road-tripped with his dog Jack to New York.
The star explained he wanted to be “completely transparent” about the incident, saying, “I was an idiot today and my decisions did not reflect who I was as a person and I just want to make that clear.”
for the sake of transparency on yesterday pic.twitter.com/IJRjEDOrCH
— Zach Bryan (@zachlanebryan) September 8, 2023 @zachlanebryan
He went on to explain, “About three days ago I was driving through this small town in Oklahoma… and I drive by this cop, I was going like 4 or 5 over. He pulls me over, he comes to my window. First things he asks for are license, registration and my address. And I said, ‘Hey man, I don’t really feel comfortable giving you my address. I’m a musician and I’m just not comfortable with it.’ So he says, ‘If you don’t give me your address, I’m going to have to take you to jail.’ I’m like, ‘Man, I’m not going to give you my address.’ So he tells me to step out of the vehicle. He puts handcuffs on me and I’m like, ‘Man, what the hell is going on? Why are you doing this?’ He’s like, ‘Why are you not giving me your address?’”
Bryan says, “I explained why, I ended up giving him my address. I ended up abiding by what he was saying.”
The handcuffs were eventually removed and the singer was given a warning, but Zach said the situation “frustrated me a lot” because he didn’t know if he legally needed to give his address to the officer.
The trouble continued a few days later when Zach and his security guard left on a trip to Boston.
“We get like 40 minutes away from my house, we’re going through Vinita, he’s behind me and I see him getting pulled over… so I go around the block and I pull back up next to him… and I’m just sitting there waiting on him. 10 to 15 minutes go by and I get out of the car like, ‘What is this taking so long?’ I was going to smoke a cigarette and the cop comes up to me and says, ‘Sir, get back in your vehicle… get back in your vehicle or I’m going to take you to jail.’”
He continued, “Like a dumbass I said, ‘Take me to f-cking jail? What do you mean?’ And he was like, ‘Take you to jail’ and I was like, ‘Damn.’ So I get too lippy with him, he brings me over to his car and I just didn’t help my situation at all. I felt like a child. It was ridiculous, it was immature, and I just pray everyone knows I don’t think I’m above the law. I was just being disrespectful and I shouldn’t have been. It was my mistake.”
“He gets me in these cuffs and he gets me in his front seat… so I’m just getting more angry and angry… they finally let me out of the vehicle I’m just mouthing off like an idiot, like an actual child… when in reality they were just doing their jobs, I was upset.”
Describing the moment he was hauled off to jail, Bryan recalled, “He looks at me and says, ‘Hey man, I’m going to tell you this and don’t interrupt me’… he started talking and I interrupted him, naturally because I was just angry. He said, ‘I’m going to take you to jail and he took me to jail.’ I was in jail a few hours.”
Bryan added that he cooled off a bit after that and praised the jail staff saying they were “super kind” through the booking process.
“The cop and me eventually shook hands, I ended up apologizing online because I realized my actions didn’t reflect who I was… the night ended okay. I have to deal with the legalities of it when I go back home,” Zach said.
As for why he shot the social video, the singer shared, “I just wanted to tell the story and get it out there… I shouldn’t have behaved like that and it won’t happen again.”
He followed up with an Instagram Stories video directed at the officers, “I just wanted to apologize to… both troopers that I was rude to. You didn’t deserve it and hopefully we meet in the future under different circumstances.”