Country singer Zach Bryan riled fans this week after releasing a teaser to his new song, “Bad News,” which criticized Immigration and Customs Enforcement and called police officers "cocky motherf***ers."
Bryan took to Instagram to release the clip, which he captioned “the fading of the red white and blue.”
“ICE is gonna come bust down your door,” he sang in one part. “Try to build a house, no one builds no more.
“Well I got a telephone, kids are all scared and all alone," he continued. "The bars start bumping, the rocks start rolling, the middle finger’s rising and it won’t stop showing, got some bad news."
A top DHS official pushed back, urging Bryan to stick to songs like his 2024 hit "Pink Skies," while some fans said they were done with him. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem also addressed the matter, calling the lyrics "completely disrespectful."
Country superstar Zach Bryan takes aim at ICE, claiming the country is fading in a snippet from his upcoming song “Bad News.”
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) October 6, 2025
“Cocky motherf*ckers ain’t they. And ICE is gonna come, bust down your door. The fading of the red, white, and blue”
He just drew over 112,000 fans to… pic.twitter.com/b84EtNYCRR
BREAKING: Secretary Kristi Noem flames country singer Zach Bryan.
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) October 7, 2025
I just asked Noem about the new Zach Bryan song attacking ICE. Noem went scorched-earth calling the woke singer “completely disrespectful” to the law enforcement that protect him.
Secretary Noem: "I hope Zach… pic.twitter.com/MPXuVshPnM
After the blowback, Bryan released a statement in an Instagram Story insisting he loves America.
"This shows you how divisive a narrative can be when shoved down our throats through social media," he said. "This song is about how much I love this country and everyone in it more than anything. When you hear the rest of the song, you will understand the full context that hits on both sides of the aisle. Everyone using this now as a weapon is only proving how devastatingly divided we all are. We need to find our way back.
"I served this country, I love this country and the song itself is about all of us coming out of this divided space," Bryan continued. "I wasn’t speaking as a politician or some greater-than-thou a--hole, just a 29-year-old man who is just as confused as everyone else. To see how much s--- it stirred up makes me not only embarrassed but kind of scared. Left wing or right wing we’re all one bird and American. To be clear I’m on neither of these radical sides. To all those disappointed in me on either side of whatever you believe in just know I’m trying my best too and we all say things that are misconstrued sometimes."
In a separate post hours later, he addressed the criticism again.
"The last few months of my life I’ve been scrutinized by more people than I ever thought possible," he said. "I feel like I’ve tried my hardest in so many ways and it’s so hard to see where my bearings even are anymore. Been falling off a cliff while trying to grow wings at the same time.
"I am SO proud to have served in a country where we can all speak freely and converse amongst each other without getting doxxed or accosted on the internet or worse," Bryan continued. "[T]he violence and heartbreak we’ve faced in the last few months! God speed ol sons I’m out!"