Zac Brown, Kendra Scott Engaged—But He’s Still Fighting His Ex-Wife In Court

Topline

Musician Zac Brown and jewelry designer Kendra Scott, who is worth almost $1 billion according to Forbes estimates, announced their engagement Thursday less than two weeks after a judge set a trial data for the latest installment in an ongoing legal battle between Brown and his ex-wife Kelly Yazdi that has drawn the attention of millions on TikTok.

Kendra Scott and Zac Brown attend the 2025 American Music Awards at Fontainebleau Las Vegas on May … More 26, 2025.

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Key Facts

Brown and Yazdi announced their split months after their August 2023 wedding, and their divorce was finalized in January, but a messy legal battle has continued to play out and the pair will face a jury in September in the U.S. District Courthouse in Atlanta.

Yazdi has accused her ex-husband of repeatedly trying to stop her from speaking about their marriage, including through a lawsuit he filed in May over a poem she wrote referencing a relationship with a narcissistic abuser.

Brown has also been sued by his ex, who claims he made a music video using a “look-alike” model with the intention of defaming her and used footage from their wedding without her permission.

Yazdi, who has chronicled the saga on TikTok, posted a video about the most recent litigation update—when a trial date was set—on July 16 as part of a nine-part series she’s continuously updated on the app, and the post has already been viewed 9.3 million times.The nine videos together have 36.4 million views combined.

Representatives for Brown did not immediately respond to Forbes’ request for comment Friday.

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Key Background

Brown and Yazdi announced they were getting divorced in December of 2023. Yazdi claims she was shocked by Brown’s decision to separate and that he asked her to sign a nondisclosure agreement about their short marriage, which she refused to do. Brown filed for divorce in January 2024. One month later, the Zac Brown Band released a song titled “Beautiful Drug.” Yazdi said the music video for the track used real footage from her wedding to Brown, and that the band purposefully hired a “promiscuous” look-alike model to make her look bad. In July, Yazdi sued Brown over the video, saying she did not consent to be portrayed and wasn’t paid for her likeness. In the music video, the model “is depicted as being an illegal drug-using, promiscuous reckless abuser of alcohol,” Yazdi’s lawsuit said. Brown’s team has said the video was shot years before Brown and Yazdi met. In May, after the video was released but before she filed the lawsuit, Yazdi posted a poem titled “The Rebirth” on her Instagram. The poem did not mention Brown by name, but referenced a traumatic relationship and included accusations of gaslighting, threats and stonewalling. The poem suggested she’d been in a controlling relationship “disguised” as love: “His betrayal forced her down a road through Hell and brutal heartbreak, and the terrifying reality of narcissistic abuse,” the post read. In May 2024, Brown filed a lawsuit against his ex, claiming the poem and another on her page defamed him and violated confidentiality agreement from her time working at his company, the Zac Brown Collective, Inc. He also filed for a temporary restraining order, which was denied. In a statement made at the time, Brown said he filed the lawsuit to take 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.” That lawsuit is the one with a jury trial date set for September.

Crucial Quote

“Those of you asking, ‘Why has he been trying so hard to silence her,’ get your popcorn ready because you’re going to find out on September 15th,” Yazdi posted to TikTok Thursday.

What To Watch For

How the lawsuit plays out. Yazdi confirmed she and Brown both must appear in person in the Atlanta court on Sept. 15, adding “I can’t say I’m looking forward to our ‘reunion,’ but I am looking forward to putting this all behind me.”

Tangent

Brown and Scott first appeared together in public at the 2025 American Music Awards in May. The pair reportedly met through mutual friends. Scott, who has three children, has been married three times before and Brown, who has five children, has been married twice. The couple announced their engagement, and showed off Scott’s pink diamond ring, in an interview with People magazine released late Thursday night. Some social media comments about the engagement referenced Brown’s defamation lawsuit against Yazdi. In her most recent TikTok video about her divorce, Yazdi’s caption read, “This is also not about Zac’s new fiancee. I will forever be a girls’ girl, and I wish her the best… I would just hope that it would be more important to Zac to focus on his new engagement versus trying to control his last… but here we are…”

Forbes Valuation

Scott was ranked as No. 41 on Forbes’ list of America’s richest self-made women this year and has an estimated net worth of $900 million. Her fortune comes from a majority stake in her jewelry company, which has over $500 million in revenue. Berkshire Partners sold its stake in the company to Singapore-based 65 Equity Partners last year at a valuation of more than $1 billion.