Luke Bryan hosted his annual Crash My Playa festival Jan. 19-22 in Riviera Cancun, Mexico, and on the festival's final night, Bryan performed a set that included guest appearances from Lionel Richie, Chayce Beckham, Dylan Scott and more. Frequent Crash My Playa performer Dustin Lynch was also a guest during Bryan's set, and while many fans were enthused about the collaboration, some had a problem with the way Bryan introduced Lynch.
"Welcome back to the stage the mayor of Crash My Playa, the longest standing representative of Crash My Playa," Bryan said of Lynch while introducing him.
"No one has drank more liquor. No one has vomited more. No one has taken more drugs. No one has taken more IVs," the singer continued. "No one has passed more STD tests than this next gentleman, ladies and gentlemen. He got a clean bill. He does not have diseases. Give it up for Dustin Lynch!"
Lynch then joined the stage laughing, saying that Bryan's comments will go down "in the history books of introductions."
Bryan introduces Lynch at 1hr 13 min mark of this video:
After the introduction, the two launched into a brief performance that included Toby Keith's "Should've Been a Cowboy" and Brooks and Dunn's "Neon Moon."
Once videos of Bryan's introduction began circulating, some fans and social media users were disappointed in the words Bryan used about Lynch, calling them "wrong," "underserving" and "not cool." Bryan then shared a video on his Instagram stories to clear up any confusion about his comments about Lynch.
"Just saw where people are starting to chat about my introduction of Dustin Lynch," he said, while duck hunting. "Dustin Lynch is one of my dearest friends on the planet no one respects him more than I do. My introduction of him was complete sarcasm. Those words I used were so absurd I figured everybody would take it as sarcasm."
Bryan continued, saying he has spoken to Lynch since the event and there's no bad blood. He then apologized to any fans he might have offended.
"He and I are all good, and I apologize to anybody that doesn't understand my humor and sarcasm," he said. "It's been going on like that down there for years."
Lynch did not respond directly to the controversy, but he shared a video recap of the festival on his social media accounts on Monday (Jan. 30) with a caption that implies he's in on the joke.
"...Surely somebody's done more, right?!" Lynch wrote, referring to Bryan's comments about drinking and drugs. "We'll see you next year pirates."
?surely somebody?s done more, right?! ? We?ll see you next year pirates ???? pic.twitter.com/uSRu0AZEZp
— Dustin Lynch (@dustinlynch) January 30, 2023
