Cubs World Series MVP Ben Zobrist Files $6M Suit Against Pastor

CHICAGO — Ben Zobrist, the former Chicago Cubs utility player who earned Most Valuable Player honors in the 2016 World Series, has filed a lawsuit against his former minister, who is accused of entering a sexual relationship with Zobrist’s wife and defrauding the former Major Leaguer’s charitable foundation.

Zobrist, who now lives in Nashville, filed the suit in May against Bryon Yawn, who was the pastor of the Zobrist’s church and is now the CEO of a Tennessee-based counseling firm. The suit seeks $6 million for punitive and compensatory damages through a jury trial.

The suit claims that Yawn “usurped (his) ministerial-counselor role, violated the confidence entrusted to him by (Zobrist) and ….deceitfully used his access as counselor to engage and an inappropriate sexual relationship with (Zobrist’s) wife.”

The suit states that Yawn, who conducted pre-marital counseling for Ben and Julianna Zobrist and later counseled Ben Zobrist for issues dealing with anxiety and depression, asked Julianna Zobrist to hide their relationship from her husband while he maintained contact with her through the use of burner phones, the suit states.

The suit states the couple first met Yawn at Community Bible Church in Nashville in 2005. Yawn had been the pastor there for about 20 years. Over the next 12 years, Yawn dedicated the couple’s three children and began to provide counseling services for Ben Zobrist in 2016 and 2017, which is when Zobrist played in Chicago.

In 2018, however, Yawn began having regular conversations with Julianna Zobrist, whom he began to “secretly pursue an intimate relationship” with which escalated in the spring of 2019 the two began regularly meeting for sex, the lawsuit states. The relationship continued through the remainder of 2019 and into the spring of 2020, the suit states — all while Yawn was still conducting counseling sessions with Ben Zobrist.

Through the counseling, Yawn learned of difficulties in the Zobrist’s marriage and even encouraged Ben Zobrist to give his wife "some space." The lawsuit included text messages sent from Ben Zobrist to Yawn saying that he was delaying his departure to spring training after learning that Juliana Zobrist had twice spoken with a divorce lawyer.

“I care too much about my marriage and my family to be away during such a difficult time,” Zobrist wrote.

In response, Yawn wrote: “That’s heavy friend. Yawns love you and your family. Whatever you need. Whatever you need to do. Grace.”

At the same time, Yawn was also working for Zobrist’s charity foundation, which paid him an annual salary of $36,000. The role with the charity also gave Yawn an excuse to spend more time with Julianna Zobrist, according to the suit.

Yawn’s role with the charity was ended in March 2019, according to the suit, but the pastor continued to receive a salary until May and continued to cash the checks even though he knew he had been fired, the suit states.

Yawn’s wife also discovered the burner phone her husband had been using to maintain communication with Julianna Zobrist, the suit states. She then contacted Ben Zobrist to inform him that she believed something may be going on between her husband and Zobrist’s wife.

The couple each filed for divorce in Illinois and Tennessee in 2019 and in her filing, Juliana Zobrist acknowledged she had maintained a sexual relationship with Yawn and had hidden it from Zobrist. Zobrist took time away from the Cubs early in the 2019 season and didn't return to the team until September, which cost him about $8 million in salary, according to the lawsuit.

Zobrist sold the home he and his family lived in near Wrigley Field for $2 million in February, according to Realtor.com.

In his suit against Yawn, Zobrist is suing for breach of fiduciary duty and intentional infliction of emotional distress and states that Yawn’s actions add up to “outrageous conduct.”

Yawn’s Nashville-based attorney told the Chicago Tribune that his client “deserves his day in court and for the truth to be heard.”

“At the end of the day, a woman has the right to choose who she wants to be with,” Yawn’s attorney, Christopher Bellamy told the newspaper. “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.”