Heavy/Getty "American Idol" judge and country star Luke Bryan
When season 22 of “American Idol” kicks off on February 18, 2024, country singer Luke Bryan will return for his seventh season as a judge alongside fellow music stars Katy Perry and Lionel Richie. But a year ago, he was so worried he was about to be fired by the show that he lost sleep over it, according to his friend and fellow country star Dustin Lynch.
During Bryan’s annual Crash My Playa music festival in Riviera Cancún, Mexico, Bryan went viral for comments he made about Lynch, who recalled the incident during an appearance on the “God’s Country” iHeartPodcast on February 6.
Bryan felt so bad about the unsavory comments he made onstage about Lynch, which he later said he intended as a joke, that he went on an apology tour, issuing a public statement and even reaching out to Lynch’s parents to apologize. But last month, Lynch revealed on the podcast, he got back at Bryan during the 2024 Crash My Playa in an epic way.
Here’s what you need to know:
Footage of Luke Bryan’s 2023 Introduction of Dustin Lynch Quickly Went Viral
When Lynch, 38, appeared on the “God’s Country” podcast on February 6, he shared what happened behind the scenes. During the January 2023 concert, Bryan was captured on video introducing Lynch to the stage.
“I want to welcome back to the stage the Mayor of Crash My Playa, the longest standing representative of Crash My Playa,” Bryan shouted into the microphone. “No one has drank more liquor, no one has vomited more, no one has taken more drugs, no one has taken more IVs, no one has passed more STD tests than this next gentleman. He does not have diseases. Give it up for Justin Lynch!”
Recalling the moment, which he thought was funny, Lynch told the “God’s Country” podcast hosts, “He starts going down this road of just bashing me and to the point where I’m looking at his manager like, ‘Dang!’ We hit the stage, and anyway, it catches fire.”
It didn’t take long before footage of the moment went viral and the public reaction was not good. Lynch said seeing his comments go viral made Bryan so nervous he lost sleep over the possibility “American Idol” might fire him.
“We’re looking at all these articles pop up like, ‘Oh, crap,'” Lynch said. “And so, (Bryan) has to apologize, you know, especially with, now he’s worrying, obviously— ‘American Idol.’ Who cares about the country music thing. It’s ‘American Idol.’ … He gets to where he can’t sleep at night because he’s worried.”
After Luke Bryan Issued Apologies, Dustin Lynch Got Him Back With Ultimate Roast
Bryan issued a public apology on January 26, 2023, calling Lynch “one of my dearest friends on the planet.” Billboard reported that Bryan wrote the following in his Instagram Stories:
“I saw where people are starting to chat about my introduction of Dustin Lynch. Dustin Lynch is one of my dearest friends on the planet. No one respects him more than I do, and that night at Playa, Sunday night, last night, I get everybody out, and my introduction of him was complete sarcasm. Those words that I used were so absurd, I figured everybody would take it as sarcasm. Obviously, some people didn’t.”
“I’ve spoke to Dustin, I love him, he and I are all good, and I apologize to anybody that doesn’t understand my humor and sarcasm. It’s been going on like that down there for years. We’ll see y’all next year.”
Lynch shared that Bryan felt so bad about the ordeal that he asked for his parents’ email addresses so he could personally apologize to them.
“Just shows you what kind of guy Luke is,” he said.
Still, Lynch decided to get his buddy back during this year’s music festival in Mexico. On January 23, Lynch posted a video that revealed he had hired comedian Jeffrey Ross, known for his brutal but funny roasts of celebrities, to beam in live and insult Bryan in front of all of his fans.
“Last year, Luke Bryan introduced me on stage and it ended up making headlines,” Lynch told the crowd, listing off media outlets that took Bryan’s comments seriously and reported on them.
“I’ve had one whole year to think about how to do this,” and then pulled Bryan out onstage.
Before Ross started in on him, Bryan laughed, “I don’t deserve this!”
In one jab, Ross told the audience he thinks of Bryan as “the other country star on TV who wasn’t hot enough to marry Gwen Stefani,” comparing him to former “The Voice” coach Blake Shelton.
“Luke has a new single out called ‘Southern and Slow,'” Ross continued. “Congrats, Luke. You’re finally writing something autobiographical.”
Bryan and Lynch laughed hardest when Ross said seeing them onstage was like seeing “Beavis and Butt-Head host a music festival.”
“American Idol” returns with a two-hour premiere on February 18 — with Bryan still gainfully employed as a judge — at 8 p.m. Eastern time.