Spotify is reminding subscribers that breakout country star Zach Bryan is, indeed, an outlaw following his September 7 arrest in Oklahoma.
Eagle-eyed fans were quick to notice that the singer’s mugshot was featured as the new cover art for the music streaming service’s “Outlaw” playlist. “A state of mind,” the playlist’s description reads, featuring Bryan’s “Something in the Orange” track as the No. 1 song.
“They’re so weird for this idc,” one fan wrote on X (formerly Twitter), responding to the cover art change. Another added, “Lmao what.”
A third social media user shared, “Now that’s cold,” referring to the choice of image.
Bryan, 27, for his part, has yet to publicly acknowledge the cover art. However, he did speak at length about his run-in with the police and subsequent arrest.
“Today I had an incident with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. Emotions got the best of me and I was out of line in the things I said,” Bryan shared via X on September 7. “I support law enforcement as much as anyone can, I was just frustrated in the moment, it was unlike me and I apologize. They brought me to jail, and there is a mug shot of me floating around.”
The singer was arrested in Vinita, Oklahoma, for an “obstruction of investigation,” Us Weekly confirmed via online jail records. Rolling Stone reported that he was released on bail following the incident.
In a second social media post, Bryan further addressed the situation, noting that he was “an idiot” when dealing with the police.
“I wanted to be completely transparent with everyone who listens to my music about what happened yesterday with me getting arrested,” he shared in a lengthy Instagram Stories video from Friday, September 9. “I did go to jail, they didn’t play favorites.
Bryan told followers that his “decisions did not reflect who I was as a person” and noted that he “should’ve been smarter” about the entire situation.
Bryan claimed that days before his arrest, he had been pulled over for “going like four or five [miles per hour] over [the speed limit]” and refused to give the officer his driver’s license to protect his privacy. He was eventually let go.
When his security guard was pulled over on September 7, Bryan got out of the car to smoke a cigarette when the police officer told him to get back in the vehicle or he would go to jail. But the musician got “too lippy” instead, which is what led to the arrest
“Like a dumbass I said, ‘Take me to f—king jail, what you do you mean?’” Bryan recalled. “I just didn’t help my situation at all, I felt like a child. It was ridiculous, it was immature. And I just pray everybody knows that I don’t think I’m above the law, I was just being disrespectful and I shouldn’t have been.”
The National Police Association praised Bryan following his apology.
“This is a very frustrated young man and he had some inappropriate things to say, but he complied with the officers,” spokesperson for the nonprofit, retired Sergeant Betsy Branter Smith, told TMZ in a statement. “He didn’t try to fight them or attack them. He mouthed off. And he apologized.”
