After his original salvo was taken down due to copyright claims, Dave Portnoy vowed to write “10,000 diss tracks” about country music star Zach Bryan.
One down, 9,999 to go.
On Sunday night, Portnoy released his second song aimed at Bryan, who has been engaged in a high profile breakup with Barstool Sports personality Brianna LaPaglia. Titled “Country Diddy,” the three-minute and 30-second song likens Bryan to disgraced rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, while also mocking the “Something in the Orange” singer’s appearance, originality and general existence.
“Couldn’t be a bigger person even if you tried,” Portnoy raps on the track. “Of course the world’s a giant to the smallest man alive.”
The song also makes multiple references to the multimillion dollar non-disclosure agreement LaPaglia says that Bryan offered her in exchange for her not discussing their relationship publicly after the breakup.
“You ruin people’s lives, then hand out NDAs,” Portnoy continues. “I’m the one problem you can’t pay to go away.”
Portnoy’s release of “Country Diddy” comes just days after his original diss track, “Smallest Man,” was taken down due to copyright claims via Warner Music Group. While the Barstool Sports founder originally believed the claim was due to content in the song, he later discovered it was because Josh Richards — who was also featured on the track — had previously signed an exclusive recording contract with WMG, which also reps Bryan.
Portnoy, however, vowed that it wouldn’t be the last that Bryan would hear from him.
“You think that’s just it? You think we’re going to just put ‘Smallest Man’ away?” Portnoy said in a video posted to social media last Thursday. “I will write 10,000 diss tracks. I will go die in the booth. I will put the headsets on and come back spitting bars twice as hot.”
Barstool’s beef with Bryan comes as a result of the country star’s breakup with LaPaglia, who co-hosts the BFFs podcast alongside Portnoy and Richards. On the latest episode of BFFs, LaPaglia detailed the couple’s seemingly toxic relationship, revealing that he had offered her a $12 million NDA following their breakup, which she declined to accept.
To this point, Bryan has yet to publicly respond. He did, however, reference the “trouble I caused” on a song released last week.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.