‘I shouldn’t have did what I did’: Country music star Zach Bryan apologizes after his arrest in Oklahoma

Last week, the AT&T Center announced Bryan would have back-to-back shows in San Antonio on July 30 and 31

Zach Bryan performs during day one at the Windy City Smokeout festival on Thursday, July 13, 2023, at the United Center in Chicago. (Photo by Rob Grabowski/Invision/AP) (Rob Grabowski, 2023 Invision)

VINITA, Okla. – Country music star Zach Bryan — who just announced back-to-back shows in San Antonio next summer — was arrested and jailed briefly Thursday in northeastern Oklahoma, according to a post on his account on the social media site X, formerly Twitter.

“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,” Bryan wrote. “I was just frustrated in the moment, it was unlike me and I apologize.”

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Zach Bryan mugshot (Craig County Jail via ABC News)

Early Friday morning, Bryan posted a video further explaining the events that led up to his arrest.

“I don’t want the internet to do what the internet does and make stuff up,” Bryan said in a video posted on X.

Bryan said he was pulled over for going a few miles over the speed limit several days ago. He was briefly put in handcuffs after refusing to give the officer his address. In the end, Bryan gave his address and the officer gave him a warning and let him go. He said that incident left him feeling “frustrated.”

Bryan said on Thursday he decided he wanted to drive to Boston so his security guard was following him. As they passed through Vinita, the security guard was pulled over. Bryan said he went around the block to wait but got impatient because the traffic stop was taking a long time.

When he got out to smoke a cigarette, the officer told him to get back inside his vehicle.

“I get too lippy with him. He brings me over to his car. 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 that I don’t think I’m above the law, I was just being disrespectful and I shouldn’t have been. It was my mistake,” Bryan said in the video.

Bryan said the officer put him in handcuffs and he became “more and more angry” and started “mouthing off like an actual child.”

“I was just an idiot and I’ll take the fall for it, I’m a grown man and I shouldn’t have behaved like that and it won’t happen again,” Bryan said. “Thanks for defending me online. I don’t really need it. I shouldn’t have did what I did.”

Bryan’s representative did not immediately return messages from the Associated Press for comment Friday morning.

Court records do not show formal charges have been filed.

Bryan, who is from Oologah, about 25 miles northeast of Tulsa in northeastern Oklahoma, was booked into the Craig County jail Thursday night and later released on bond.

Bryan earned his first number-one album earlier this week. Billboard reports Bryan’s self-titled album moved 200,000 units this past week, putting it at the top of the Billboard 200 albums chart.

The AT&T Center announced last week that Bryan is coming to San Antonio for back-to-back shows in July.

AT&T Center announced Zach Bryan will perform back-to-back nights in July 2024. (AT&T Center)

As part of his “The Quittin Time Tour,” Bryan will perform in the AT&T Center on July 30 and 31 with special guests Matt Maeson and Levi Turner.

Tickets are on sale as of 10 a.m. on Friday at ATTCenter.com or on Ticketmaster.com.

*Editor’s Note: The Associated Press contributed to this article.


About the Authors

Julie Moreno has worked in local television news for more than 25 years. She came to KSAT as a news producer in 2000. After producing thousands of newscasts, she transitioned to the digital team in 2015. She writes on a wide variety of topics from breaking news to trending stories and manages KSAT’s daily digital content strategy.

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