Mike Vulpo
·4 min read
Zac Brown has found himself knee deep in a public divorce.
The country singer and his estranged wife, Kelly Yazdi, announced in December 2023 that they were separating after four months of marriage.
“We are in the process of divorce. Our mutual respect for one another remains,” the pair shared in a statement to TMZ. “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.”
While the pair put on a united front at the time of their breakup, things began to take a dramatic turn with Brown, 45, filing a lawsuit against Yazdi, 33, in May 2024. She later called it a “meritless complaint.”
As their split continues to play out in the public eye, Us Weekly is breaking down everything you need to know below:
How Did Zac and Kelly’s Love Story Begin?
While it’s unclear when the private pair started dating, Yazdi made a brief appearance in a Zac Brown Brand social media post when it was time to celebrate Brown’s birthday in July 2022.
According to People, Brown proposed to Yazdi during a 2022 trip to Hawaii. They enjoyed a year-long engagement before marrying at a private ceremony in Georgia in August 2023.
Why Did Zac File a Temporary Restraining Order Against Kelly?
On May 17, 2024, Brown filed a lawsuit against his estranged wife, demanding she take down an Instagram post. According to the Zac Brown Band frontman, Yazdi’s post allegedly broke a confidentiality agreement that she signed during their relationship. In court documents obtained by NBC News, Brown is seeking an emergency temporary restraining order that would compel her to take down the social media post.
“After much deliberation, 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,” Brown told Us Weekly in a statement. “My only hope is for us to keep private matters private and to move forward with the mutual respect we had agreed to show one another when we parted ways.”
How Did Kelly Respond to the Lawsuit?
Yazdi reacted to Brown’s lawsuit with a lengthy social media message. “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 circ*mstances of our pending divorce,” she wrote via Instagram on May 20, 2024. “I intend to respond swiftly and robustly to his meritless complaint that [the] 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.”
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Was Zac Previously Married?
Before starting a relationship with Yazdi, Brown was married to first wife Shelly Brown for 12 years. The couple — who share five children — confirmed their 2018 split in a statement to Us Weekly.
“We feel blessed to be on such an incredible journey in life and sometimes the journey begins to lead in different directions. It is with deep love and respect that we announce we are separating as a couple,” the exes shared at the time. “We have led a whirlwind life together growing into a beautiful family with five amazing children and while life will be rearranging a bit, our love and commitment to our family will always be there. This was a difficult decision, but we’ve done plenty of tough things together and this is our next venture — love, mutual respect, and care for each other are what we are moving forward with.”
The statement concluded, “Family comes in all different forms. We would like to ask that rather than commenting or spending any energy towards this, that you take this moment to send love to your family, in honor of ours.”
