Ben Zobrist divorce – Wife Julianna Zobrist’s Instagram photos trolled after ‘affair’ with Nashville pastor Byron Yawn
THE wife of Byron Yawn, the pastor who cheated on Ben Zobrist with his now-estranged wife Julianna, has remained silent about the explosive case, sparking rumors.
Byron's wife Robin Yawn reportedly informed Major League Baseball that her husband might be having an emotional affair with Zobrist's wife.
The Yawns were high school sweethearts who "had the special blessing of coming to faith during the same period of their lives," according to a bio on the website of their church.
Ben Zobrist learned that his wife was allegedly having an affair with Byron Yawn, their pastor who is also accused of defrauding the ex-MLB star's charity, after filing for divorce, the suit says.
The former baseball player, 40, is seeking $6million in damages from Yawn, who was previously a pastor at Community Bible Church in Nashville
Read our Ben Zobrist live blog for the latest news and updates...
HOW MUCH DID BEN ZOBRIST LOSE DURING HIS LEAVE OF ABSENCE?
Ben Zobrist took a leave of absence from the Cubs in May 2019.
The outfielder missed four months and lost $8million in salary, half of which Julianna is now demanding for herself, along with half of the pair's total assets.
Her suit argues that because of the leave, Ben “essentially went from the top of his game to basically giving up, which caused a massive loss in income.”
BEN SAYS JULIANNA WAS ENGAGED IN A 'DECEITFUL, SINISTER SCHEME'
In court documents obtained by the Chicago Tribune, Ben writes in a memorandum that Julianna wanted to hide her affair so he would keep making money as a baseball player.
The memo reads: "It appears that one of wife’s main motives in concealing her affair with Pastor while participating in marriage counseling was to coax husband back into playing baseball so he could further enrich the marital estate in which wife is expected to receive significant sums of money once the court equitably divides the estate.
"One would be hard pressed to concoct a more deceitful, sinister, and otherwise inappropriate scheme than wife has devised in this divorce matter."
BEN ZOBRIST'S ATTORNEY CALLS JULIANNA'S CLAIM 'UTTERLY ABSURD'
Ben's attorney, Helen S. Rogers, has since released a statement about the claims Julianna made in her legal filing, calling them "utterly absurd."
“Rather than accepting blame for having torn her husband’s heart out by having an affair with their pastor, she expected him to be able to totally focus in an elite athletic job that required (100%) of his physical and mental energy,” Rogers wrote in a filing to the judge.
"It is Mrs. Zobrist, by having the extramarital affair and confessing same to her husband, and not disclosing the true extent of her affair, that caused him such extreme mental distress and difficulty that resulted in an inability to finish his long and very successful career in the way that he had hoped for and planned for.”
JULIANNA SEEKING COMPENSATION FOR BEN’S LEAVE OF ABSENCE
Julianna is seeking $4 million from Ben as part of a divorce settlement, claiming he allegedly failed to “preserve marital assets” when he took a leave of absence from the MLB in 2019.
In court documents, first obtained by the Chicago Tribune, Julianna claims the 2016 World Series winner “intentionally and voluntarily” stopped working at the “top of his game” and gave up, affecting household income.
She is seeking an even split of their assets and $4 million, which she claims is the amount he “failed to preserve by abruptly and intentionally failing to satisfy his baseball contract.”
WHO HAS BEN ZOBRIST PLAYED FOR?
Zobrist is a former Chicago Cubs utility player and 2016 World Series MVP.
He has played for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Oakland Athletics, Kansas City Royals, and Chicago Cubs.
TWITTER SLAMS JULIANNA ZOBRIST
"Julianna Zobrist May be one of the worst human beings alive," one person tweeted.
"Name a worse human being than Julianna Zobrist. You can’t," another said.
SOME ON TWITTER CALL FOR SPOTIFY TO DROP JULIANNA'S MUSIC
".@Spotify, take Julianna Zobrist’s so-called music off Spotify," one person tweeted.
"Gross. Didn't know it was on Spotify," someone responded.
"Remove her 'music' from @HobbyLobby overhead speakers too," another chimed in.
WHAT IS BEN ZOBRIST'S CHARITY?
Ben's non-profit charity Patriot Forward is registered in Tennessee as a Christian organization.
The charity workes to help the general wellbeing and mental health of professional athletes.
They advertise services to help educate players on their "domestic context" and guide players on to life after their professional athletic career.
WHO IS JULIANNA ZOBRIST?
Julianna Joy Zobrist, 36, is a Christian musician known for performing Christian pop style electronic dance music.
Throughout her career, she has released two EP's, The Tree, and Say It Now, along with one studio album, Shatterproof.
Her songs, The Dawn, and Alive, have charted the Billboard magazine charts.
According to her website, Julianna is the daughter of a pastor and she even started a book club called Read with Jules because of her love of reading.
DO BEN AND JULIANNA ZOBRIST HAVE CHILDREN?
Ben and Julianna have three children together: Zion Benjamin, 12, Kruse Allegra, 9, and Blaise Royal, 5.
The Zobrist's welcomed their first child at a young age, Julianna was only 24-years-old at the time while Ben was 27.
Their youngest daughter Blaise is named after the Kansas City Royals, the team Ben won his first World Series with, just a few days before his daughter was born.
Ben was with the team for 14 weeks before winning a World Series title and becoming a free agent.
JULIANNA GOING AFTER BEN FOR $4 MILLION DESPITE HER 'OVERSPENDING'
Julianna is currently going after Ben for $4 million.
Julianna's multi-million dollar price comes after Ben filed a $6 million lawsuit against the former pastor back in May 2021.
Following the affair, Ben sat out of games because of his declining mental health following the affair, as a result, he lost $8 million in salary after signing a $12 million deal but only playing for two months.
Julianna is claiming that she is owed at least half of that.
Ben is pushing for a 60-40 split of assists after claiming that his soon-to-be ex-wife overspent their estate by "at least $691,602.86."
BEN'S LAWYER SAID JULIANNA 'COAXED' HIM BACK TO MLB
Ben's lawyer followed up and claimed that Julianna "coaxed" Ben into returning to the MLB when he was not ready.
Ben was the 2016 World Series MVP and is a two-time World Series champion before he decided to pause his MLB after 13 years.
"It is Mrs. Zobrist, by having the extramarital affair and confessing same to her husband, and not disclosing the true extent of her affair, that caused him such extreme mental distress and difficulty that resulted in an inability to finish his long and very successful career in the way that he had hoped for and planned for," Rogers continued.
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT BEN AND JULIANNA'S MESSY DIVORCE
Ben and Julianna Zobrist were married for 15 years before filing for divorce following an alleged affair.
In court documents obtained by the Chicago Tribune, Julianna claimed that Ben is "guilty of failing to preserve marital assets" after taking a leave of absence to work on their issues.
Helen S. Roger, Ben's attorney, called the claims "utterly absurd," and said that following Julianna's affair with Byron Yawn, their former Tennessee pastor, it caused Ben to have "extreme mental distress."
"Rather than accepting blame for having torn her husband’s heart out by having an affair with their pastor, she expected him to be able to totally focus in an elite athletic job that required (100%) of his physical and mental energy," Rogers wrote in her court filing according to the Chicago Tribune.
TWITTER UNLOADS ON JULIANNA ZOBRIST
As reports came out that Julianna "coaxed" her husband back to playing for the Cubs only to later request millions he lost while on leave, Twitter let her have it.
"Julianna Zobrist is equal parts crazy and sick," one person said.
"At a time when our country is so divided we are blessed to have people like #juliannazobrist that we can all rally against," another said.
FANS RALLY BEHIND BEN ZOBRIST
SOME ON TWITTER CALL FOR SPOTIFY TO DROP JULIANNA'S MUSIC
".@Spotify, take Julianna Zobrist’s so-called music off Spotify," one person tweeted.
"Gross. Didn't know it was on Spotify," someone responded.
"Remove her 'music' from @HobbyLobby overhead speakers too," another chimed in.
BEN ZOBRIST'S ATTORNEY CALLS JULIANNA'S CLAIM 'UTTERLY ABSURD'
Ben's attorney, Helen S. Rogers, has since released a statement about the claims Julianna made in her legal filing, calling them "utterly absurd."
“Rather than accepting blame for having torn her husband’s heart out by having an affair with their pastor, she expected him to be able to totally focus in an elite athletic job that required (100%) of his physical and mental energy,” Rogers wrote in a filing to the judge.
"It is Mrs. Zobrist, by having the extramarital affair and confessing same to her husband, and not disclosing the true extent of her affair, that caused him such extreme mental distress and difficulty that resulted in an inability to finish his long and very successful career in the way that he had hoped for and planned for.”
BEN SAYS JULIANNA WAS ENGAGED IN A 'DECEITFUL, SINISTER SCHEME'
In court documents obtained by the Chicago Tribune, Ben writes in a memorandum that Julianna wanted to hide her affair so he would keep making money as a baseball player.
The memo reads: "It appears that one of wife’s main motives in concealing her affair with Pastor while participating in marriage counseling was to coax husband back into playing baseball so he could further enrich the marital estate in which wife is expected to receive significant sums of money once the court equitably divides the estate.
"One would be hard pressed to concoct a more deceitful, sinister, and otherwise inappropriate scheme than wife has devised in this divorce matter."
WHAT DID YAWN SAY ABOUT THE LAWSUIT?
In a statement, Yawn said: "At the end of the day, a woman has the right to choose who she wants to be with.
"We’re in the middle of litigation, so I can’t really comment further at this point, but that’s what it boils down to."
Ben Zobrist alleged the pastor and Julianna had an affair while Yawn was their pastor at Community Bible Church in Nashville.
JULIANNA SPENT $30,000 ON A PARTY FOR BYRON YAWN
Julianna Zobrist spent $30,000 on a December 2018 retirement party for Byron Yawn, the pastor who she allegedly had an affair with, according to documents obtained by the Chicago Tribune.
A court filing read: "Mrs. Zobrist paid for the party out of the ‘farm account’ that her husband typically did not review, apparently to keep the cost of the party unknown to him.
"Mrs. Zobrist and Pastor Yawn both became intoxicated and are dancing ‘on’ each other in a provocative way that was very embarrassing to Ben Zobrist, especially in front of their close church friends.
"Wife took umbrage at her husband’s rebuking her privately after the party for acting in this manner in public. However, unknown to husband, wife was already ‘in love’ with Pastor Yawn."
JULIANNA SEEKING COMPENSATION FOR BEN’S LEAVE OF ABSENCE
Julianna is seeking $4 million from Ben as part of a divorce settlement, claiming he allegedly failed to “preserve marital assets” when he took a leave of absence from the MLB in 2019.
In court documents, first obtained by the Chicago Tribune, Julianna claims the 2016 World Series winner “intentionally and voluntarily” stopped working at the “top of his game” and gave up, affecting household income.
She is seeking an even split of their assets and $4 million, which she claims is the amount he “failed to preserve by abruptly and intentionally failing to satisfy his baseball contract.”
BEN PUSHES FOR 60-40 SPLIT
Ben Zobrist is pushing for a 60-40 split of assets, claiming that Julianna overspent their estate by “at least $691,602.86."
Julianna, on the other hand, is pushing for 50-50, along with extra compensatory cash.
She is demanding $4million in compensation for Zobrist's decision to take a leave of absence from the MLB after allegedly having an affair with the couple's pastor.
JULIANNA SPENT $30,000 ON A PARTY FOR BYRON YAWN
Julianna Zobrist spent $30,000 on a December 2018 retirement party for Byron Yawn, the pastor who she allegedly had an affair with, according to documents obtained by the Chicago Tribune.
A court filing read: "Mrs. Zobrist paid for the party out of the ‘farm account’ that her husband typically did not review, apparently to keep the cost of the party unknown to him.
"Mrs. Zobrist and Pastor Yawn both became intoxicated and are dancing ‘on’ each other in a provocative way that was very embarrassing to Ben Zobrist, especially in front of their close church friends.
"Wife took umbrage at her husband’s rebuking her privately after the party for acting in this manner in public. However, unknown to husband, wife was already ‘in love’ with Pastor Yawn."
WHAT DID YAWN SAY ABOUT THE LAWSUIT?
In a statement, Yawn said: "At the end of the day, a woman has the right to choose who she wants to be with.
"We’re in the middle of litigation, so I can’t really comment further at this point, but that’s what it boils down to."
Ben Zobrist alleged the pastor and Julianna had an affair while Yawn was their pastor at Community Bible Church in Nashville.