Zach Bryan was arrested last night in a small town in Oklahoma on an obstruction of investigation charge.
While it was not immediately clear exactly what led to the arrest, the country singer took to Instagram this morning to offer a lengthy explanation of the timelines of events and to profusely condemn his own actions.
"I just want to be completely transparent for everyone who listens to my music about what happened yesterday with me getting arrested and everything," he began in a series of videos posted to his Instagram story. "Because I don't want the internet to do what the internet does and like, I don't know, make stuff up."
COUNTRY MUSIC STAR ZACH BRYAN ARRESTED IN RURAL OKLAHOMA
He explained that he still has to deal with the "legalities" of the situation, but he did go to jail. He said that police "didn't play favorites," and admitted "I was an idiot today."
It is worth noting that at the beginning of the video, posted just hours ago, he said that he was halfway through driving to New York and had "seven Red Bulls in me," so it seems that when he recorded the videos, he had not slept much since the arrest, if it all.
"My decisions did not reflect who I am as a person and I just want to make that clear," he continued. "I should have been smarter about it."
Bryan claimed that three days ago, he was driving in his own small town in Oklahoma and passed a police car going "four or five miles over" the speed limit. He was pulled over, and the officer asked for his license, registration and address. However, the singer, who is a big star in the country music world at this point, did not feel comfortable sharing his address.
The officer allegedly told Bryan that if he did not give his address, he would be taken to jail. He said he still refused, and he was asked to get out of his car and was then handcuffed.
"I'm like ‘Man, what the hell is going on, why are you doing this?’" he recalled. "He's like, ‘Why are you not giving me your address?’"
He said that they discussed his situation further and that he did end up providing his address, and the officer uncuffed him and let him off with a warning for speeding.
Yesterday, he planned on driving to Boston to see a concert. He left with his security guard in another car behind him, and shortly into their drive, the security guard was pulled over. After circling back and pulling up near his guard's car, he waited for several minutes, then stepped out of his car to smoke.
"The cop comes up to me and is like, ‘Sir, get back in your vehicle,’" Bryan said. "I'm like, ‘I’m not the one who's getting pulled over.'" He was told again to get back in his car and warned that if he did not, he would be taken to jail.
"Like a dumba--, I'm like ‘You’re going to take me to f---ing jail? What do you mean?'" he continued.
The singer admitted to getting "too lippy" with the officer, and he said he "didn't help [his] situation at all."
After calling his behavior "ridiculous and immature" and saying he "felt like a child," he said "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, and it was my mistake."
He went on to say that he was handcuffed and placed in the front seat of the police car, and he recalled saying that the handcuffs were tight and being told that "they're not supposed to be comfortable," noting that the officer "was just being a cop."
"So I'm just getting more angry and angry, which is like the worst thing you can possibly do. So 15 minutes goes by, they finally let me out of the vehicle, and I'm just mouthing off like an idiot, like an actual child. I'm like, ‘Man, someone’s got to get a hold of you guys, why are you using your authority like this, this is so wrong,' when in reality they were doing their jobs, I was just upset."
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Bryan continued, "He looks and me and says, ‘Man, look, I’m going to tell you this, and don't interrupt me,'" and then admitted that he did interrupt him.
"So he said, ‘I’m going to take you to jail,' and he took me to jail."
He ended up spending a few hours in jail, and he said that shortly after he arrived, he began to cool down. He eventually shook hands with the officer who arrested him.
The country star repeated that the incident was his fault. He told his fans that he did not need them to defend his behavior, and he said that it would not happen again.
His lengthy video statement follows a statement he shared on social media last night, his first on the arrest. There, he apologized again for what happened and wrote, "I'm just trying the best I can."
