REsponses

Zac’s Answer to Counterclaim

KELLY’S AMENDED COUNTERCLAIM

Response September 14, 2024

So I wanted to get on here to defend myself and respond to the situation regarding my divorce (with my soon to be ex husband Zac Brown from the Zac Brown Band ) as well as the pending lawsuits.. If you don't care to watch this video, then just swipe .. but if you do care, thank you for listening.

First of all, there's a lot of you ridiculing me for talking about these private matters publicly, and I want to address that. So I want to clear up why I'm speaking publicly about this. The divorce and these legal battles have been forced upon me by Zac, and I certainly did not want to air my grievances online. I think anyone who's been through a divorce knows how painful it can be, let alone one that's so public, but speaking out is the only way that I can defend myself in the public arena against a Goliath with a huge platform, a large microphone, in his attempt to silence me and hide the truth.

And contrary to the narrative that's being perpetuated, this isn't about me going after money or fame. This is about legally and publicly defending myself against oppression.

Response September 6, 2024

On August 16th, my soon to be ex-husband Zac Brown (from Zac Brown Band) and his attorneys filed a court document stating that my “...counterclaims are baseless and premised on a false narrative.”

They go on to say that, “She contends that a music video from the Zac Brown Band (“ZBB”) for the song “Beautiful Drug (feat. Avicii) – Remix” (the “Music Video”) portrayed Ms. Yazdi in a false light by using a female model intended to look like Ms. Yazdi and depicting her taking pills and consuming alcohol. She also claims that the Music Video uses her “image and likeness” without her consent and wrongly suggests that she approved the video.”

They go on to say that “None of that is true… In fact, the video footage of the model Ms. Yazdi complains of was shot in 2018, years before Mr. Brown ever met Ms. Yazdi.” They also state that, “The footage was not chosen to portray or mock Ms. Yazdi—it had nothing to do with Ms. Yazdi.”

So I’m here to share with you today that my team filed an Amended Complaint in federal court that sheds light on these statements by Zac and his team. Zac’s team says the music video isn’t a manipulated version of my wedding party video, and that they didn’t use my image and likeness, and that the model they used wasn’t made to portray me in a false light..

I call bullshit. What Zac did was calculated, heartless, just disgusting, and sad.

But I encourage you to decide for yourselves, folks. I’ve shared the filed court documents including my wedding party video as well as the comparison video on my website for you to see. The truth is in the evidence.

Response August 23, 2024

HERE WE GO AGAIN FOLKS 🙄 It’s Kelly, once again coming on here to defend myself. As you may already know, or for those of you tuning in, after being sued by soon-to-be ex husband Zac Brown (from Zac Brown Band) for a poem I posted in May, and dealing with his meritless legal and PR attacks for months now, I chose to countersue Zac and his company ZBC for the music video of his song “Beautiful Drug Ft. Avicii Remix” - I’m doing this because they used the video footage from our private wedding party in Nashville for his music video for commercial gain, in the video they replaced me in the video with a lookalike model who’s seen behaving promiscuously, irresponsibly, unprofessionally, and recklessly.

And today, a media outlet posted an “exclusive” regarding the recent filings Zac’s team made in court regarding his answer to the counterclaim. After months of denying that he used our wedding party footage in his music video, they FINALLY admit to using the footage from our wedding party. After all of the ridiculous PR punches they’ve unleashed on me, they finally admit the truth that I’ve been saying since day one…

Response August 12, 2024

I wanted to get on here to speak up about recent developments and once again defend myself. In my video statement I released on August 8th, I began with expressing my concern that there would be retaliation once I spoke publicly. And I was right. Sadly, but predictably, less than 24 hours later (on August 9th) I was asked to comment on an article in which unnamed “sources” from Zac Brown ’s camp attacked my character. This, of course, occurred as soon as I broke my silence. My attorneys released a statement that same day calling this effort exactly what it is - a public smear campaign to hurt and silence me, and an effort to broadcast a false narrative to intimidate me and influence public opinion.

What’s more…. it didn’t stop there. On August 10th, Zac’s friend Jake Nodar posted a disturbing video about me - discussing my poetry, my body, my career as a stuntwoman, my marriage to Zac, and the lawsuits being litigated in federal court. Jake’s statement is sexist, defamatory, body shaming, misogynistic, and reminiscent of an adolescent smearing his friend’s ex…

Response August 8, 2024

Time to set the record straight…

I wanted to give you an update on things and explain why you haven’t heard from me in a while. I have not been posting much because I fear that anything I publish will result in more legal claims being brought against me to suppress my freedom of speech….

Response June 3, 2024

On May 24th, the federal district court Judge denied Zac Brown’s attempt to get a gag order to silence me from posting a poem about broken relationships.

Remarkably, Zac’s response to having his motion summarily denied was to issue a press release doubling-down on his defamatory attacks on me, accusing me of using the lawsuit he filed against me as an ad hoc press release, and vowing to press his meritless lawsuit forward. Because it appears, for now, that Zac intends to do just that, it is important to know that I am not a willing participant in that agenda..

Response May 19, 2024

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. 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…