Juliana Zobrist Says She Won't Sling Mud Against Former Cubs Star

CHICAGO — The estranged wife of former Chicago Cubs utility player and 2016 World Series MVP Ben Zobrist used a Tuesday morning social media post to address what she called ugly allegations made against her, but said now isn’t the time for “slinging mud” as she remains focused on the well-being of the couple’s three children.

Juliana Zobrist, a Christian pop singer and an author of self-help books, published a long Instagram post Tuesday morning that seems to be in response to a $6 million lawsuit that Ben Zobrist filed against the couple’s former pastor last month. In the lawsuit, the former Cubs player accused Byron Yawn of using his role as the couple’s marriage counselor to establish a relationship with Juliana Zobrist that became intimate and that continued for several months. Zobrist also says that the Nashville-based pastor defrauded his charitable foundation.

The lawsuit alleges that Yawn used burner phones to communicate with Juliana Zobrist on a daily basis and that the two had a sexual relationship after the couple had undergone marriage counseling with Yawn, who was also treating Ben Zobrist for depression.

In her post Tuesday, Juliana Zobrist thanked friends and fans for their recent support and said that the ugly allegations have led many to wonder if she would defend herself against the claims. Without mentioning the lawsuit or Zobrist by name, Juliana Zobrist said that she considered her role as a mother as the most important job she has.

That, she said, has prevented her from responding — perhaps in kind, she suggested, with ugly allegations of her own.

“I am choosing to protect my children’s hearts by not saying hurtful things about their father in public,” she wrote. “My attention of focused on caring for them during this difficult time, and I refuse to divert my energy to slinging mud and publicly reveal personal details or my previous relationship in order to score sympathy points.”

Ben and Juliana Zobrist separately filed for divorce in 2019 and while Juliana Zobrist acknowledged that she had engaged in improper marital conduct, but also alleged that her husband was also guilty of the same.

Without specifically addressing any of the claims made in the lawsuit, Juliana Zobrist said she found it tempting to “retaliate or seek revenge when someone seeks to hurt, slander or lie about you – especially in public.”

“It’s difficult to remember that those who harm us are acting out of their own pain,” she continued. “Wounded people need healing, and that’s what I pray finds every person who is so lost in their pain that they resort to inflicting harm on others.

After Zobrist filed the lawsuit against the couple’s former pastor, his attorney told the Chicago Tribune that “at the end of the day, a woman has the right to choose who she wants to be with.”

For now, Juliana Zobrist said she is refocused on looking after her “refigured family” and that at some point, she would address the claims of her estranged husband in more detail.

“My reconfigured family—a resilient mother and her three remarkably brave children—are building something healthy, safe and beautiful where shame does not abide,” she wrote.