A federal judge has ordered that Zac Brown‘s ex-wife Kelly Yazdi breached her employment contract by forwarding confidential business emails to herself when she was fired from the singer’s company.
According to documents obtained by TMZ, the court has ruled that Yazdi “retained more than 170 confidential business emails and files” when she left the company, and that they contained information she could use to attack Brown publicly.
Yazdi has been ordered to return all of those materials within seven days, and to certify under oath that she has done so. She must also “permanently stop using or further disclosing any of Zac’s business information.”
Why is Zac Brown in a Legal Battle With His Ex-Wife Kelly Yazdi?
- Brown and Yazdi married in August 2023.
- They announced their separation just four months later, in December. “Our mutual respect for one another remains. We will always appreciate our time together,” they told TMZ at the time, requesting privacy as they navigated the split.
Read More: Zac Brown Files Restraining Order Against Ex Kelly Yazdi
But in May 2024, Brown filed a temporary restraining order against Yazdi, claiming she violated a confidentiality agreement with social media posts she made that contained apparent allegations against him about their marriage.
What Did Kelly Yazdi Say About Zac Brown On Social Media?
In May 2024, Yazdi shared a post that — without specifically naming Brown or their marriage — described a relationship defined by “narcissistic abuse,” with hallmarks like “Projections. Gaslighting. Threatening. Stonewalling.”
After Brown filed his temporary restraining order, Yazdi shared another video in which she specifically named her country star ex-husband. “No one — not even Zac Brown with all his money, power, celebrity and lawyers — may silence my right to freely express myself through art or, although I have declined to date to do so publicly, to speak about the circumstances of our pending divorce,” she wrote in that update.
What Else Did a Federal Judge Say About Zac Brown and Kelly Yazdi’s Legal Battle?
Yazdi used the imagery of a butterfly in the poem she posted to social media, and included the hashtag #ButterfliesDontBelongInNets.
The judge ruled that Yazdi used her insider information on Brown’s then-unreleased collaboration with Dolly Parton, “Butterfly,” in the timing and thematic content of those posts.
How Did Kelly Yazdi and Zac Brown Respond to the Court Ruling?
Yazdi hasn’t shared an update publicly since last November, and she has yet to comment publicly on the court’s ruling on social media.
She did share an Instagram Stories video of herself enjoying a day out in sunny weather, focusing on a street mural that prominently featured butterflies, though she didn’t say anything further.
Kelly Yazdi, Instagram Stories
Yazdi’s lawyer Josh Belinfante tells TMZ that her team plans to appeal the court’s decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.
“Mr. Brown’s team knows that Ms. Yazdi already destroyed the responsive emails she sent herself, which is something she offered to do after Mr. Brown lost his first motion to restrain her from speaking,” Belinfante continues.
Read More: Zac Brown’s Ex Fires Back After Restraining Order: ‘I Will Not Be Silenced’
“…To be clear, Ms. Yazdi signed an employment agreement that was held to be unenforceable, requiring the court to rewrite it, and it contained a separate confidentiality agreement that the court said was completely unenforceable. What she did not sign was a marital NDA,” he went on to say.
Meanwhile, representation for Brown said that they were “grateful for the court’s careful attention to the facts and law.”
“The evidence at trial showed that Ms. Yazdi betrayed Zac’s trust, took critical confidential information that didn’t belong to her, and used it to attack him publicly for her own gain,” attorney Brad Beckworth stated. “The permanent injunction should put an end to it.”
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Gallery Credit: Sterling Whitaker
