It looks like the drama surrounding Kelly Clarkson’s divorce is far from over.
Kelly Clarkson has had good fortune in her divorce from Brandon Blackstock, and now, that winning streak continues.
A labor commissioner has ruled that Blackstock had overcharged the American Idol winner by millions when he represented Kelly as her manager.
According to legal documents obtained by TMZ, a California labor commissioner ruled Brandon crossed the line as a manager when he booked gigs and inked deals for Kelly.
These include booking deals on The Voice, Norwegian Cruise Line, Wayfair, and as host of Billboard Music Awards. While there are a few exceptions, only agents can lawfully secure roles for talent, not managers.
Brandon collected fees for booking the gigs, and now, the labor commissioner has ordered that he pay up. He is being required to return those commissions to his former wife, which total a whopping $2,641,374.
As pointed out by TMZ, there’s also a huge discrepancy in the payments he gave himself for each booking. Brandon got $1.98 million for commissions from her role on The Voice, but only got $93.30 in commissions for Kelly hosting the Billboard Music Awards.
Brandon has already said that he is preparing to appeal the ruling.
On a good note for Blackstock, Kelly also wanted the money he ex-husband got for scoring her the talk show, The Kelly Clarkson Show. The labor commissioner begged to differ, so Brandon keeps whatever he got for that one.
This is just the latest development in the saga that is Kelly Clarkson’s divorce. Her split from Brandon Blackstock has been anything but tame, with the singer making a whole album about the split.
Earlier this year, upon the release of her album Chemistry, Clarkson revealed on TODAY that she had reached out to her ex to discuss the album with him before its release.
“We did have a little text exchange about it,” she told hosts Hoda Kotb and Carson Daly.
“I don’t even remember why or how it happened, but I was like, ‘Hey, I didn’t just diminish us down to one [thing],'” she explained.
“You know what I’m saying? It’s all in there, the ride. The beauty is in there, as well,” Kelly continued. “Now there’s a lot of pain, but that’s what happens for all of us.”
When Kotb asked the star what she thinks about Blackstock listening to the album, Clarkson said with a laugh, “No. I don’t know if he’d care either way.”
Kelly filed for divorce from Brandon in June 2020, which came after seven years of marriage.
Their split was settled in March 2022. The former couple share two children together: daughter River Rose, 9, and son Remington Alexander, 7.
While discussing her relationship through the album, Clarkson told the TODAY hosts that the project is very “personal” and she was always mindful of her children when creating it.
“It’s very personal. And I’ve always released personal music — I think I’m that kind of writer in general, everybody knows that,” she said.
“I think when you have kids — you both have kids, too — you kind of debate, ‘What am I going to do here?’ So I was very selective about the songs I picked for the album,” Kelly continued.
In another interview preparing for the release of her album, Clarkson told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe that she knew her relationship “wasn’t going to” work after she and Blackstock went to marriage counseling.
“It was trying to make it work. ‘We’re trying to figure it out. I desperately want to make this happen,’ but I think I knew in my heart it just wasn’t going to,” she revealed.
The Grammy winner chronicles the end of her marriage on her new Chemistry, which she said will give fans a look at “the arc of an entire relationship.”
“It’s called chemistry… because I was trying to find a word that really described the whole thing,” she described.
“Cause, I didn’t want everybody to think I was just coming out with just like, ‘I’m angry, I’m sad, just one or two emotions, you know?” Kelly continued.
“And a whole relationship shouldn’t be just brought down to one thing,” she said, echoing what she told Brandon about the album. “So there’s the good, the bad and the ugly kind of thing going on in it.”
“I just feel like chemistry is a beautiful and amazing thing, but it’s powerful for the good and the bad. Makes you do stupid stuff,” she revealed.
Clarkson also admitted that her kids are rooting for a reconciliation among their parents, which is anything but easy for her.
“Your kids will still have a hard time. It doesn’t matter if you stay, it doesn’t matter if you go, I am still having conversations [with my kids] three years later,” Kelly said during an appearance on Glennon Doyle’s podcast, We Can Do Hard Things.
“My kids just came back from my ex and any time there’s mention of maybe him being with somebody else,” she continued. “They are just really adamant about keeping that dream alive that we might still be together one day.”
Nearly two years after Clarkson filed, the divorce was finalized in March 2022. Per court documents, Clarkson was ordered to pay Blackstock a massive one-time payment of just over $1.3 million
Kelly also has to pay her ex-husband monthly spousal and child support payments, which began on Feb. 1, 2023.