Zach Bryan has offered more thoughts after being arrested Thursday (September 7) in Oklahoma. In a series of video posts on his Instagram Story, Bryan, who currently has the No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, explained that the incident in question stemmed from getting “too lippy” with a police officer during a traffic stop in the city of Vinita, about 40 miles east of his hometown of Oologah.
Videos by American Songwriter
“I just pray everyone knows that I don’t think I’m above the law,” he said on Instagram. “I was just being disrespectful and I shouldn’t have been, and it was my mistake.”
From the driver’s seat in his car with “seven Red Bulls” in him, and with his dog Jack asleep riding shotgun, Bryan offered that he “just wanted to be completely transparent with everyone who listens to my music about what happened yesterday,” he said. “I don’t want the internet to do what the internet does and, like, I don’t know — make stuff up.”
[RELATED: Zach Bryan Addresses Arrest: “I Was Out of Line”]
Bryan said that while he and his security guard set out driving to Boston in separate cars, his guard was pulled over in Vinita. After “10 or 15 minutes,” Bryan got out of his car to ask what was taking so long. This is, he said, when an officer said he would take him to jail if he didn’t get back in his car.
“Like a dumbass I said, ‘Take me to fucking jail? What do you mean?,'” Bryan said. “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.”
The officer handcuffed Bryan, he said, and placed him in a cruiser. “Fifteen minutes goes by, and I’m just mouthing off like an idiot,” Bryan said. “I’m like, ‘Man, someone’s gotta get ahold of you guys. Why are you using your authority like this? This is so wrong,’ when in reality, they were just doing their jobs. I was upset.”
Bryan also said he had been pulled over for speeding and eventually handcuffed a few days prior in a separate incident where he refused to give that officer his address. He eventually relented and was let go with a warning.
[RELATED: Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves’ “I Remember Everything” Tops Multiple Charts]
Rolling Stone reports that the 27-year-old was arrested in Vinita for “obstruction of investigation” and taken into custody, though he was released shortly after. Bryan said he was in jail for “a few hours” and that he and the arresting officer eventually shook hands. His mugshot has appeared widely online.
In a post to X (formerly Twitter), Bryan initially confirmed the arrest and said that “emotions got the best of me, and I was out of line in the things I said.” He didn’t initially elaborate further on the incident but noted his support for law enforcement.
“Today I had an incident with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol,” Bryan wrote. “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.”
He mentioned on Instagram that when he gets home, he’ll still have to deal with “the legalities” of the incident.
Bryan’s latest album currently sits atop the Billboard 200 chart. Last week, he announced the sprawling Quittin Time Tour, a 54-date showcase set to hit arenas throughout North America from March to December 2024.
Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images
