Zach Bryan Gets A Shocking Amount Of Hate For Singing At His Own Wedding

@zach.bryan.clipz

It was certainly a choice.

On New Year’s Eve, news broke that Zach Bryan had married his girlfriend Samantha after rumors have been going for a little while now about their marital status. Until yesterday, though, all we knew for sure was that Leonard and Bryan were dating, and had been since just after the his very public and messy breakup with Barstool Sports personality Brianna Chickenfry.

Bryan and Leonard’s relationship went public around August of 2025, and Zach actually fueled those marriage rumors himself when he posted a video of he, Leonard and some friends paragliding in Europe. Fans quickly spotted a gold band on the singer’s ring finger, and interestingly enough, Bryan deleted the video shortly after it was posted. He then replaced the video with another, only this time, a bald eagle emoji was covering up his left hand.

And TMZ officially reported a few days ago that Zach and Samantha were married in San Sebastian, Spain, and it must have happened in the last two days or so, considering this photo that Zach posted about a day ago that presumably captured a moment with him and his groomsmen.

The lyrics to the Black Eyed Peas’ “I’ve Got A Feeling” served as the caption for the photo:

A video that was posted later showed Bryan and Leonard running out of the building they were married in, with Bryan carrying his now wife for a bit before setting her down so that they could both hop into a convertible and speed away with a “Just Married” banner hanging off the back.

Check it out:

And several days ago, Zach shared the first official photo of him and Samantha as husband and wife, with a beautiful black and white photo of them along with the caption:

“Tougher than the rest.”

Samantha looked gorgeous, and from the few photos and videos I’ve seen, it looked like a dreamy event in Spain… what a way to end 2025:

Samantha also took to Instagram to share several photos from their absolutely gorgeous ceremony, which looks to be at a breathtaking Spanish cathedral.

She shared several of them at the alter saying their vows, as well as a few other snapshots, and the flowers and the setting at this church is gorgeous. I can’t imagine a prettier setting for a wedding. Samantha, who made a beautiful bride, shared the photos along with the simple caption:

“Forever.”

From a quick Google search, it looks like the ceremony took place at The Basilica of Saint Mary of Coro, which is a baroque Roman Catholic parish church and minor basilica completed in 1774.

You can see the photos here:

But there’s one specific element of the wedding reception that’s going viral, which is where Zach took center stage at the reception to sing a cover of “Tougher Than The Rest,” which was made popular by Bruce Springsteen when he included it on his 1987 Tunnel of Love album. It has also been covered by Emmylou Harris, Chris LeDoux, Travis Tritt, Midland and more.

Of course, Zach has become a lightening rod for hate recently, a real “love him or hate him” kind of artist, but many in the comments were not loving the fact that he got up onstage to sing during a day that was supposed to be about both him and Samantha. I saw a few people speculating that he might have been filming a music video and that clip was from something different, but he’s wearing a tux, as are his band members, and singing the song he used in his wedding photo caption… so I don’t think that’s the case.

The videographers you see are probably just capturing wedding footage:

It pretty much goes on like this:

“Nobody loves Zach more than Zach loves Zach.”

“Performing at your own wedding is wild work.”

“I’m convinced this wedding is for a music video and I can not be unconvinced.”

“Marrying your exes doppelgänger is insane.”

“Did he really sing at his own wedding?

“I’m still not understanding this wedding….”

“2026 Bingo Card Prediction ‘Zach Bryan files for divorce amid cheating allegations’ – Calling it now.”

“Of course he would sing at his own wedding.”

“It’s the Zach show alright.”

“I think this is some short film.”

“Pretty sure just music video”

“I hope to find someone who loves me the way Zach loves himself.”

“Are we sure this isn’t a music video?”

“Feels a lil showy.”

“Thoughts and prayers for the new bride.”

“This gives me such an ick.”

“Smallest Manchild whoever lived and he sings off key.”

“I hope she didn’t get a prenup.”

“Okay we knew he was crazy but performing at his own wedding is off the charts.”

I have to imagine Samantha knew this was part of the reception and was okay with it, but again, it was certainly a choice… I tend to agree with the comments saying it comes off fairly self-centered, but we have to remember though, Zach is a singer and used to expressing himself with a song, it shouldn’t be all that surprising to anyone. John Legend, Justin Timberlake, and plenty of others have performed at their own weddings too.

Either way, as long as the bride is happy with it, that’s what matters.