Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia has accused her ex-boyfriend Zach Bryan of emotional abuse while they were together.

LaPaglia, 25, made the allegations about the BFFs podcast she’s with Dave Portnoy and Josh Richards on Thursday, Nov. 7, opening up about her relationship with Bryan, 29, for the first time since the country star announced their split on Oct. 22. She did not provide details about the exact nature of the relationship. alleged abuse.

Representatives for LaPaglia and Bryan did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

“The last year of my life was the hardest year of my life dealing with the abuse from this guy,” LaPaglia said, referring to Bryan.

“I’m still scared now because I’m scared of him,” she continued. “My brain has been rewired and I’m afraid of making him angry. Last week I didn’t want to talk about it because I was afraid.”

LaPaglia also claimed that the women who were previously in relationships with Bryan had to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to prevent them from publicly discussing their own experiences with him.

“You made the women before me believe they had no choice but to take money from you,” LaPaglia alleged. “(They) signed their experiences and what they’ve been through (so) you can skip and sing little f— songs to you on stage like you’re a good guy.”

LaPaglia said she decided to be open about her alleged experiences “to anyone who has been emotionally abused and to people who are currently being emotionally abused.”

“For anyone who doesn’t have a support system, I’m fortunate to have experienced this,” she continued. “This is not like a drama for me, it’s not about me not signing the NDA or not taking the money because I want to come here and show who he is and all those things. I don’t sign. take away my experiences and what I went through to protect someone who hurt me and I’m a lot stronger than a weak man, f— you and f— your money.

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Bryan and LaPaglia met at the Academy of Country Music Awards in May 2023 and officially started dating in July 2023. Bryan confirmed their split on Instagram on October 22 and asked everyone to respect his and LaPaglia’s privacy.

“Brianna and I have broken up with each other and I respect and love her with every ounce of my heart,” Bryan wrote. “She loved me unconditionally for a very long time and I will always thank her for that. I personally have had an incredibly difficult year and have struggled through some pretty serious things. I thought it would be good for both of us to go our separate ways to go.” different ways.”

LaPaglia felt “blindsided” by the news, she wrote in a post on Instagram Stories, adding that she planned to “step off social media for a while and try to heal privately.” When I’m ready, I’ll be back and ready to talk.”

“I love you guys so much, thank you for all your kind words,” LaPaglia continued. “Remember that you are so loved and everything will always be okay.”