Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia “Don't ask anyone for permission.”
The 25-year-old podcast host makes her Sports Illustrated Swimsuit debut on the cover of its January digital issue, and while the social media influencer sees the photo going viral as an opportunity to move on after a difficult breakup with her ex-boyfriend Zach BryanShe also wants a little revenge.
“She's, on a trivial level, my favorite—you,” she told Sports Illustrated. In the interviewIt's titled “Brianna LaPaglia Doesn't Ask Anyone for Permission.”
Zac Bryan's ex Briana Lapaglia dazzles in a revenge dress while out for a date
Brianna LaPaglia and Zach Bryan in October. (Sports Illustrated/Katherine Goguen | Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images)
“This is me, and I wanted to do this, and now I'm on the digital cover,” she added.
LaPaglia has been vocal about the deterioration of her relationship with the country music star, which she described as emotionally abusive, even claiming that Bryan's team… She was offered $12 million To sign a non-disclosure agreement after their separation.
The two began dating in the summer of 2023, and broke up last fall.
LaPaglia said speaking out about her struggles in her relationship led to women reaching out to her to talk about their own experiences with emotional abuse.
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“She's, on a trivial level, my favorite—you,” Brianna LaPaglia told Sports Illustrated in the interview. (Sports Illustrated/Catherine Goguen)
“During the hardest times in my life, it was probably one of the most fun things that ever happened to me, to be able to help people in a way that I feel is much more meaningful than my old content was.” LaPalea said. “I know that posting silly things and having fun videos for people to watch is also helpful, and helps people get out of reality, but actually changing their lives by coming forward and being able to give people a shoulder to lean on, or someone to cry on, is out of this world.” “
Zach Bryan and Brianna LaPaglia dated for over a year before they broke up. (Getty Images)
However, there are still people on social media who don't believe her story about Bryan or accuse her of speaking out for publicity.
“I just wish I could spend time with all my haters individually, to be honest,” she told SI. “I was like, 'I hope you can see me as I actually am, and it's not like a s— cycle reversal on TikTok, where it's just fed into an algorithm — that wouldn't even be possible for you to watch a positive video about me at this point, because Once you're on the negative side, that's all you're fed.”
She's also a little tired of TikTok itself and isn't sweating it The impending US embargo.
“It's so much more than looking sexy in a swimsuit, I'm reclaiming my identity as a woman, reclaiming my body and my decisions and my choices,” Brianna LaPaglia told the magazine. (Sports Illustrated/Catherine Goguen)
“What I'm feeling right now is like, 'Open a bottle of champagne! Let's get rid of this horrible, obnoxious app,'” she joked.
She also said that she is done hanging out with A-list celebrities.
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“My life for a year was hanging out with all these famous people and doing all these extravagant things, and if anything, their lives seemed a lot less–than my family's lives back home, where they're just regular people who are happy and alive. “
“My life for a year was hanging out with all these famous people and doing all these extravagant things, and if anything, their lives seemed a lot less than my family's lives back home, where they're just regular people who are happy and alive.”
LaPaglia told the magazine that Bryan made her feel like she needed to “tone me down.”
“When I walk into a room, I want to talk to everyone,” she said. “When I first started the relationship, it became an issue for him; I was talking too much, or I was talking too much, and maybe it wasn't highlighted enough.”
Now that the relationship is over, she feels like her old self again.
Briana LaPaglia was supposed to host the red carpet for the 60th anniversary of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit last year, but she backed out at the last minute because Zach Bryan told her it would be “trashy.” (Gilbert Flores/Penske Media via Getty Images)
Country star Zach Bryan gave his ex an ominous warning before announcing the split
“I'm walking down the street, I'm at a crosswalk, and I start a conversation,” she said. “I'm at the bar, talking to the bar guy for 20 minutes now. Finally talking to my hairdresser again, where I used to just sit in the chair. I've found that little spark of life again. In myself now, this person who used to feel like… The cloud of death above me at all times is gone.”
It also wasn't lost on her that she was supposed to host the red carpet for the 60th anniversary of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue last year, but backed out at the last minute because Brian told her it would be “frivolous.”
“It's so much more than looking sexy in a swimsuit, I'm reclaiming my identity as a woman, reclaiming my body and my decisions and my choices,” she told the magazine. “This cover is for me to be me again and take control of my life. This is my body, my body is not that experience, and even though I'm not in it 100% right now, this is me. This has nothing to do with anyone else.”
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Fox News Digital has reached out to Brian for comment.
