“You’re Standing In A Bikini Not Marching For Suffrage”– Fans Offer Mixed Reactions To Brianna Chickenfry’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Cover

A bonafide cover girl. Zach Bryan's ex-girlfriend and Barstool Sports personality Brianna LaPaglia, AKA Brianna Chickenfry, is the new Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Digital Cover Model for the month of January. Of course, there was a big story that made headlines during her tell-all BFF’s podcast episode that her ex-boyfriend did not approve of the dress she wore to the Golden Globes in 2024, though he shared the photo on his own Instagram stories complimenting her, but behind closed doors, he allegedly berated her for the look. The dress sparked a massive fight and Zach unfollowed her on social media. Since then, Brianna has been on a revenge tour of sorts, and she certainly did not hold back during her appearance at the Golden Globes this year when she wore a dress even more revealing than the first, and doing the SI cover is another opportunity to “reclaim herself” and wear how much... or how little... she wants. Here's the cover shot: https://www.instagram.com/p/DE2ivFsxhC5/ Brianna shared in part of a social media clip that SI posted on their Instagram she sees the cover as more than just a “bucket list” item to check off: “It means so much more to me than, like, feeling sexy, being in a cool location… like, I’m allowed to do what I want to do, I’m allowed to do it in any fashion, in any amount of clothes, in front of whoever I want. And no one has the control over you to tell you what you can and cannot do. To me, it isn’t just like, check it off the bucket list that was really cool, this is, like, reclaiming myself and that’s what this all means to me.” I think it’s pretty obvious what she means if you read between the lines a little bit. No doubt about it, she's sending a message. https://www.instagram.com/p/DE2OR28BwIJ/ And as her side of the story has been very public, many fans were excited to see her get such a massive opportunity, commenting on the post just how beautiful she looked and talking about how empowering it is to see her doing so well after all she went through: "This is soooooo major!!" "ZB punching air rn and I love it." "Zach fumbled hard." "Such a nice gesture to get her not to speak her truth & be silenced! So happy she chose to speak up loudly & help others in the process." "Love that she chose to do what felt right to her instead of being silenced! Absolutely beautiful shots!" "Making that $12 million the old fashioned way" "Zach punching air via step stool." "An absolute dream girl." "Idk why people are hating, she is a baddie and just living her life. If you don’t like it, don’t watch. But your life doesn’t get any better by dragging someone else’s." "This is BEYOND!." "Yaaaaaas! Much deserved Brianna. The comeback when you decide you are worth more than a dollar sign and NDA is literally SO empowering!" "Why's everyone hating? Good for her. Super hot too." "YUPPPPP she is the moment" "Not asking for anyone's permission!!! period." "Yes. Yes. A million times yes. So proud of her!" "SHE IS THE MOMENT!! This is everything." "You could never make me hate Bri." "It’s a bad day to be Zach Bryan." "Everything she said resonates so much! The epitome of SI Swimsuit and what it means to be an empowered woman!" Of course, there was a decent amount of negative reaction (this is social media, after all), and many were not-so-enthused about Brianna's big cover: "Damn she owes a lot to Zach." "The only reading Dave is doing this year is dedicated to this, only right since he paid." "She’s best known for being somebody’s girlfriend she has zero talent." "How much did Dave pay for this?" "Team Zach I don't believe what she says." "She’s a professional girlfriend Lmao. Sport Illustrated is a joke." "You know she didn’t invent being dumped right?" "Meh. Should’ve had Grace on the cover instead." "Just for attention." "How much did Dave pay for this to happen." "There were so many other options..." "Big miss on this one." "Absolutely not." "You’re standing in a bikini not marching for suffrage." Whether you care for her or not, I don't think there's any arguing that she looks absolutely stunning, and even though she turned down $12 million to sign an NDA in exchange for keeping her mouth shut about everything, it's certainly paying off now, in every sense of the term.