Grace O’Malley is addressing the status of her and best friend Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia‘s “PlanBri Uncut” podcast.
“If you know me you know I truly hate to be serious about anything ever, but sometimes you have to be,” O’Malley, 26, said in the start of a lengthy three-part statement posted via her Instagram Story on Friday, December 6. “For months, I’ve been radio silent about the status of ‘PlanBri’ and it has killed me to leave you guys hanging. The plan was for me and Bri to put out a joint statement about the end of the podcast.”
Noting that “everything’s so weird and unfamiliar at the moment,” O’Malley went on to address the tags she and LaPaglia, 25, have been receiving about their Barstool Sports podcast via social media amid the end-of-the-year Spotify Wrapped frenzy, which made her “feel a few things.”
“[I’m] proud of what we built, nostalgic for all these years and frankly outright heartbroken that this chapter has closed,” she continued. “But, we agreed to make a joint statement, so I replied, cried, and chose not to repost or say anything until it was time. On that same day, you might’ve seen Brianna post that she’s ‘working on bringing back some version of PlanBri.’ To give you guys the much needed info you deserve, all I can say is that that was my first time hearing about this.”
(The last episode of the friends’ podcast was uploaded on October 10. Rumors of a rift in the pair’s longtime relationship began to swirl earlier this year, prompting LaPaglia to speak out via Instagram in October, in which she denied the existence of any beef. That same month, LaPaglia and then-boyfriend Zach Bryan made headlines after he publicly announced their split. LaPaglia claimed that she was “blindsided” by the announcement, claiming the former couple had agreed to keep the matter private at the time.)
O’Malley went on to detail her “favorite part of this chapter” of her life, explaining that “getting to work with my best friend” has “truly been a dream job” for which she’s “eternally grateful.”
“This last year, I bit my tongue so much that I shouldn’t even have one anymore. I was willing to wait out of respect, but things don’t always work out the way you think they will. In fact they rarely do. I most definitely did not foresee any of this EVER ending,” she wrote. “I don’t think I’ll ever fully get into every aspect of how this came to be, but it should be said that, although this was not a mutual decision, I’m realizing that, in the grand scheme of things, it might actually end up being the right one.”
O’Malley concluded her statement by sending love to her followers and while assuring them all that this wouldn’t be the last time they see or hear from her.
“I want you all to know that I’m staying at Barstool and, when it comes to chit chatting on a weekly basis, I’ll be right back,” she wrote. “I love and adore you guys. See you soon xoxo.”
Earlier this year, LaPaglia floated the idea of bringing back a solo podcast, causing fans to wonder if there were issues between the best friend duo.
LaPaglia initially shut down friendship drama during a May episode of the “BFFs” podcast, which she hosts alongside Josh Richards and Dave Portnoy. (Portnoy, 47, has since confirmed his exit from the podcast.)
“Things have been changing between the both of us and we weren’t fully communicating how we felt to each other,” O’Malley said at the time. LaPaglia added, “We just weren’t wanting the same exact things like we always wanted.”