ZAC Brown and his estranged wife Kelly Yazdi’s divorce has become tumultuous since the pair ended their four-month-long marriage in December 2023.
Last year, the former couple asked for privacy amid their divorce but have participated in very public mud-slinging months after that request.
9
Between lawsuits, restraining orders, and damning social media statements, the “mutual respect” Zac, 45, and Kelly, 33, once shared seems to have been replaced by a shared resentment.
THE DIVORCE
“We are in the process of divorce,” the exes told TMZ.
The statement continued, “Our mutual respect for one another remains. We wish each other the best and will always appreciate our time together.
“As we navigate this personal matter, we simply request privacy during this time.”
On August 31, Zac and Kelly tied the knot in a secret ceremony in Coweta County, Georgia.
The ex-couple was engaged for about a year before getting married.
Fans suspected trouble in paradise when Kelly deleted her Instagram account.
When the model reactivated her account, Zac was removed from her bio and all photos of them together were deleted.
She even unfollowed the Zac Brown Band singer on the social media platform.
RESTRAINING ORDER
Last Friday, Zac filed a lawsuit against his estranged wife demanding she take down an Instagram post that he felt tarnished his public image, as reported by NBC News.
9
He alleged a post on Kelly’s Instagram broke a confidentiality agreement she had signed, according to court documents.
The Chicken Fried singer sought an emergency temporary restraining order that would compel her to delete the compromising post.
Zac also asked the court to stop his ex-wife from “making any defamatory, false, untrue, or otherwise damaging statements” about him, his family, and his bandmates.
The lawsuit didn’t specify the post in question.
In a statement to NBC News, Brown said, “I took the steps necessary to enforce an agreement between us to maintain personal and business affairs in confidence and to protect my family from online harassment and speculation.”
He added that he hoped “to keep private matters private and to move forward with the mutual respect we had agreed to show one another when we parted ways.”
REFUSAL TO BE SILENCED
9
On Sunday, Zac would see his hopes dashed after Kelly responded to the lawsuit with a TikTok post that included a statement about the restraining order.
In the video, Kelly sat outside on a patio while addressing her followers and anyone else viewing the video.
She began, “Hey everyone it’s Kelly.”
“I wanted to get on here to share with you that I’ve included my written statement in the caption of this video.”
I took the steps necessary to enforce an agreement between us to maintain personal and business affairs in confidence and to protect my family from online harassment and speculation.”
Zac Brown
Kelly added, “This statement is very important to me. And I want to say thank you for reading and thank you for listening.”
The statement read, “No one — not even Zac Brown with all of his money, power, celebrity, and lawyers – may silence my right to freely express myself through art or, although I have to date declined to do so publicly, to speak about the circumstances of our pending divorce.”
She continued, “I intend to respond swiftly and robustly to his meritless complaint that publication of two poems on my personal social media account divulged any “confidential information” about his business, much less authorizes a court to enjoin me from speaking about matters in my personal life that have nothing to do with my brief former work for the Zac Brown Collective, Inc.”
Kelly wrote, “It is beyond ironic that Zac’s first act after filing an unnecessary public divorce lawsuit was to release a music video that deliberately mocked our wedding party from only a few months before — including a false and defamatory caricature obviously intended to be me and hurt me – followed by a second unnecessary and legally meritless public lawsuit and press release, yet he now claims his “only hope” is that we show each other “mutual respect” by keeping “private matters private” as we negotiate the terms of our divorce.”
“In a misguided effort to do just that, I have made no public response to either of those very public, very unnecessary personal attacks on me by my celebrity soon-to-be-ex-husband,” she added.
The actress continued, “But it is clearly Zac, not me, who has strategically chosen to drag our difficult divorce negotiations into the public eye with these tactics in an effort to portray himself as a victim and to use his vast resources to silence me from telling the truth about our marriage.
“It will not work, and I will not be silenced by him no matter how ridiculous his tactics.”
Kelly concluded, “Like Zac, I have lawyers too, and I will tell my truth in court — where he has unnecessarily dragged me.”
ABOUT KELLY
9
Kelly Yazdi was born on January 25, 1991, and is of Iranian and Scandinavian descent.
She grew up in Minnesota and moved to Los Angeles, California as a teenager.
I intend to respond swiftly and robustly to his meritless complaint…”
Kelly Yazdi
Kelly is an actress and has been seen in Hawaii Five-O, The Beautiful Ones, and The Martial Arts Kid.
She is also a stuntwoman and a big fan of motorcycles.
Kelly created the Run Wild platform for women who are interested in the sport.
MORE ABOUT ZAC BROWN & HIS BAND
9
Zac was born on July 31, 1978 in Atlanta, Georgia.
The creation of the Zac Brown Band started in 2002 – and in 2004, they released their first album called Home Grown.
The country music band currently has nine members in its ensemble with Zach as its lead vocalist and guitarist.
He’s joined by Jimmy De Martini, who provides backup vocals and plays the fiddle.
It will not work, and I will not be silenced by him no matter how ridiculous his tactics.”
Kelly Yazdi
John Driskell Hopkins plays bass guitar, guitar, baritone guitar, banjo, ukulele, upright bass, and provides backup vocals for the band.
Coy Bowles plays the guitar and keyboards, Chris Fryar is the band’s drummer, Clay Cook provides backup vocals and plays guitar, keyboards, mandolin, and steel guitar, Matt Mangano is the band’s bass guitarist, and Daniel de los Reyes is the band’s percussionist.
Caroline Jones, the band’s first female member, provides backup vocals and plays the guitar, keyboards, and harmonica.
THEIR MUSIC
The band has released seven studio albums, two live albums, one greatest hits album, and two extended plays.
Their biggest hit includes Chicken Fried – which has over 640million streams on Spotify.
Other songs include Knee Deep featuring Jimmy Buffet, Colder Weather, Whatever It Is, Toes, Homegrown, Free, Loving You Easy, and Highway 20 Ride.
Throughout their music career, the country band has been nominated for eight Grammys and won three – including Best Country Album in 2013.
Recently, the band announced they would be touring with Kenny Chesney for his Sun Goes Down tour next year.
The tour kicked off in Tampa, Florida on April 20, 2024, and will have shows in major cities around the United States including Philadelphia, Denver, Detroit, Nashville, and Chicago.
9
9
9