Zac Brown is in the middle of a public divorce.
The country singer and his estranged wife, Kelly Yazdiannounced their separation in December 2023 after four months of marriage.
“We are in the process of getting a divorce. Our mutual respect remains,” the couple said in a statement to TMZ. “We wish each other the best and will always cherish our time together. While we work through this personal matter, we simply ask for privacy during this time.”
While the couple remained close at the time of their split, things took a dramatic turn when Brown, 45, filed suit against Yazdi, 33, in May 2024. She later called the lawsuit “baseless.”
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While their separation remains in the public eye, We weekly Below you will find everything you need to know:
How did Zac and Kelly’s love story begin?
While it’s unclear when the couple started dating privately, Yazdi made a brief appearance in a Zac Brown-branded social media post when it was time to celebrate Brown’s birthday in July 2022.
Accordingly PeopleBrown proposed to Yazdi during a trip to Hawaii in 2022. They enjoyed a year-long engagement before marrying in a private ceremony in Georgia in August 2023.
Why did Zac get a restraining order against Kelly?
On May 17, 2024, Brown filed a lawsuit against his estranged wife, demanding that she delete an Instagram post. According to the Zac Brown Band frontman, Yazdi’s post allegedly violated a confidentiality agreement she signed during their relationship. In court documents obtained by NBC News, Brown is seeking a temporary restraining order that would force her to delete the social media post.
“After careful consideration, I have taken the necessary steps to enforce an agreement between us to keep personal and business matters confidential and to protect my family from online harassment and speculation,” Brown said. We weekly in a statement. “My only hope is that we keep private matters private and move forward with the mutual respect we agreed to have when we separated.”
How did Kelly respond to the lawsuit?
Yazdi responded to Brown’s lawsuit with a lengthy social media message. “No one – not even Zac Brown with all his money, power, fame and lawyers – may suppress my right to freely express myself through art or, although I have declined to do so publicly to date, speak about the circumstances of our impending divorce,” she wrote via Instagram on May 20, 2024. “I intend to respond quickly and forcefully to his baseless complaint that (the) publication of two poems on my personal social media account revealed any ‘confidential information’ about his business, let alone empower a court to prohibit me from speaking about matters in my personal life unrelated to my brief past work for the Zac Brown Collective, Inc.”
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Confidentiality dispute
Brown accused Yazdi of stealing “confidential information” from the Zac Brown Collective (ZBC), according to court documents UsIn the July filing, the musician claimed that Yazdi “knew full well that she would soon be leaving the business” when she allegedly received the information.
His legal team claimed that Yazdi took the alleged action “in an apparent attempt to gain influence over Brown in their divorce proceedings.” “Ms. Yazdi stole documents relating to an unreleased song that Mr. Brown was preparing with another artist,” the documents state. “She stole documents relating to Mr. Brown’s and ZBC’s finances, company valuations and other highly sensitive information that she had no right to possess and no legitimate reason to possess.”
Brown is seeking “injunctive relief and damages” from Yazdi for “flagrant breaches of the confidentiality obligations” she allegedly owed him as a former ZBC employee. (Yazdi was employed at ZBC from August 2022 to February 2024.)
Yazdi argued in her own motion that not all aspects of her employment contract with Brown were valid and binding.
The way they separated
Yazdi addressed her and Brown’s ongoing divorce via Instagram on August 8, saying she does not post on social media because she is “afraid that anything I post could result in further lawsuits being filed against me to suppress my freedom of speech.”
She claimed that Brown filed for divorce via Zoom, which she said was a shock. A source exclusively reported Us“Kelly’s claim that Zac unexpectedly told her over Zoom that he wanted a divorce is inaccurate.” The insider claimed: “Zac told her in person at his home in Georgia the night before Thanksgiving that he wanted a divorce.”
A second source close to Brown’s family said Us that things took another turn in January 2024. The insider claimed that Yazdi showed up “unannounced” at Brown’s Georgia home days after he filed for divorce. Yazdi allegedly bypassed security cameras “by parking her car out of sight and venturing through the woods.”
A second source claimed that Yazdi “still has Brown’s car in his possession and refuses to return it.”
Yazdi’s lawyers said Us in a statement in August that it was “logical” to assume that the allegations about her client’s alleged actions in January came “from Brown’s own camp.” Yazdi’s lawyers claimed the allegations were “a targeted public relations stunt launched as soon as Kelly broke her silence” to “intimidate” her.
The music video
Yazdi claimed that shortly after their split, Brown used footage from their 2023 wedding without permission for his music video “Beautiful Drug (feat. Avicii) – Remix.” Yazdi said she was “replaced in the video with a model lookalike” who portrayed her in a “false” light by faking drug use and drinking alcohol.
As for the model used in the music video, Us Weekly learned that the footage was shot by Zac Brown Band’s creative director in August 2018, before Brown even met Yazdi.
Kelly speaks out again
Yazdi gave her fans an “update” via social media on August 12, telling her followers that she wanted to “defend herself” after being harassed over her previous post in August.
“In my August 8 video statement, I first expressed concern that there would be retaliation if I spoke publicly. And I was right,” she said. “Sadly, but predictably, less than 24 hours later (on August 9), I was asked to comment on an article in which unnamed ‘sources’ from Zac Brown’s camp attacked my character. This, of course, happened as soon as I broke my silence.”
Yazdi continued: “My lawyers released a statement the same day calling this attempt exactly what it is: a public smear campaign to hurt and silence me, and an attempt to spread a false story to intimidate me and influence public opinion.”
She explained that Brown’s camp had allegedly tried to silence her, his friend Jake Nodar has slammed her online in a “disturbing video.” Nodar shared an Instagram video on August 9 in which he claimed that “Kelly was spending thousands a month” and that she was “not happy” when she had to “fly on a commercial airline.”
He also commented on her body and clothing, saying she was “controlling” and “mean” throughout her marriage to Brown.
“Jake’s statement is sexist, defamatory, body shaming, misogynistic and reminiscent of a teenager slandering his friend’s ex,” Yazdi said in response. “It’s odd why Jake would comment on personal and legal matters that don’t concern him – perhaps it’s a calculated attempt to become famous and ride on the success of his celebrity friend. But whatever his motive, it’s disturbing that a grown man would make childish and inaccurate comments.”
She concluded by saying she would “not stop” speaking the truth and reminded her fans that “the truth is in the evidence.”
Was Zac married before?
Before Brown began a relationship with Yazdi, he was married to his first wife Shelly Brown for 12 years. The couple – who have five children – confirmed their separation in 2018 in a statement to We weekly.
“We feel blessed to be on such an incredible journey in life and sometimes the journey starts to lead in different directions. Out of deep love and respect, we are announcing that we are separating as a couple,” the exes shared at the time. “We have lived a tumultuous life together and have grown into a beautiful family with five wonderful children and although life will rearrange itself a little, our love and commitment to our family will always be there. This was a difficult decision but we have been through many difficult things together and this is our next endeavor – love, mutual respect and caring for each other is what we are moving forward with.”
The statement ended with the words: “Family comes in all shapes and sizes. Rather than making comments or spending energy on them, we would like to ask that you please use this moment to send love to your family, in honor of our family.”
