Barstool Sports’ Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia has shut down rumors that her friendship with Grace O’Malley has come to an end.
“I haven’t had TikTok in months. But apparently all anyone does on there is talk about my life,” she captioned an Instagram Story post on Wednesday, October 30. “So here ya go, I’m not interested in sharing my personal relationships online anymore because the internet so badly wants to ruin them all.”
LaPaglia, 25, went on to address chatter about her high school best friend directly, writing, “Grace has been like a sister since I was 15 years old. I wished her a happy birthday privately. I’m sorry but I’m having a week from hell and I’m tired of having to feel the need to explain myself to people who don’t know me. Love ya guys and that’s all there is to it.”
Fan speculation surrounding LaPaglia and O’Malley’s friendship started prior to LaPaglia’s public split from boyfriend Zach Bryan as the two women have spent time in different states. Earlier this month, the chatter escalated following the October 8 episode of the duo’s “PlanBri Uncut” podcast when a situation from O’Malley’s teen years that “shaped [her] as a woman” was repeated on the podcast.
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The pair initially danced around the incident, which took place in Atlantic City a decade ago, before they started to offer more details. O’Malley hinted at being “coerced or forced” into a situation. LaPaglia sent a message to listeners alluding to 16-year-olds not “hanging out with the divorced men at the bar.” When O’Malley repeated it “wasn’t my fault,” LaPaglia agreed but things appeared awkward between the two. (They haven’t uploaded a new “PlanBri Uncut” episode since October 10.)
When LaPaglia, 25, failed to acknowledge O’Malley’s birthday in a social media message — but continued posting with other friends — on October 27, speculation about their longtime friendship continued to ramp up. (A friendly Us Weekly reminder that posting on social media for someone’s birthday is not always a measure of friendship — but sometimes it is!)
That same day, the “PlanBri Uncut” YouTube channel uploaded the That’s My Best Friend Tour Documentary. Fans clipped one moment from the hour-long movie, claiming it was proof something was off between the two. The short interaction showed LaPaglia saying she and O’Malley “weren’t vibing” when trying to record an episode of their podcast.
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This is the second time this year LaPaglia has spoken out regarding the status of her and O’Malley’s friendship. Earlier this year, she floated the idea of bringing back a solo podcast and fans wondered if there were issues between the best friend duo.
LaPaglia initially shut down friendship drama during a May episode of the “BFFs” podcast, which she hosts alongside Dave Portnoy and Josh Richards. That same month, she and O’Malley released a “PlanBri Uncut” episode which broke down “the truth” about what was going on between them.
“Things have been changing between the both of us and we weren’t fully communicating how we felt to each other,” O’Malley said at the time. LaPaglia added, “We just weren’t wanting the same exact things like we always wanted.”
