Kelly Clarkson Alleges Former Husband Brandon Blackstock Stated She Wasn’t ‘Sufficiently Alluring’ for The Voice Appearance
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In November, a court mandated Blackstock to pay Clarkson $2.6 million for acquiring deals in violation of the law while serving as her manager. He has subsequently filed an appeal against this ruling.
Kelly Clarkson’s ex-husband and former manager, Brandon Blackstock, allegedly expressed the opinion that his wife wasn’t “sexy” enough to serve as a coach on The Voice, as per claims made by the Grammy winner in court last year, as reported by The New York Post.
In November, a court directed Blackstock to pay Clarkson $2,641,374 for acquiring deals in violation of the law while acting as her manager – deals that should have been handled by a talent agent. His legal team has submitted an appeal against this ruling.
New court documents, obtained by the Post, reveal that the “Miss Independent” singer asserted that Blackstock conveyed to her that The Voice was seeking a more “sex symbol type” and cited Rihanna as an example.
The publication stated that Clarkson, aged 41, shared the purported conversation during her testimony to the California labor commissioner, who subsequently ruled in her favor concerning the owed payments.
Prior to Clarkson’s participation in the NBC singing competition series in 2018, Blackstock, aged 47, allegedly informed his wife that the network was seeking a “diverse” panel of coaches and insisted on having someone who was “Black.”
Additionally, Clarkson reportedly asserted that Blackstock remarked she was “too similar” to the then-coach Blake Shelton, making it unsuitable for her to join the show.
During questioning by her lawyer, Ed McPherson, Clarkson, the musician, was asked about her ability to recall the details of the alleged conversation with Blackstock, as reported by the Post. In response, she stated, “Well, a wife doesn’t forget a time she gets told she’s not a sex symbol, so that stays.”
In the November filing, according to documents obtained by PEOPLE at the time, Clarkson asserted that Blackstock secured contracts for her with The Voice, The Kelly Clarkson Show, Norwegian Cruise Line, Wayfair, and the Billboard Music Awards and received fees in return.
Although Blackstock was determined not to have overstepped boundaries as a manager with The Kelly Clarkson Show contract, according to the documents, the other four deals should have been handled by Clarkson’s team at Creative Artists Agency.
The ruling cited, “Under the Talent Agencies Act (TAA), a manager, like any person without a talent agency license, cannot procure or attempt to procure employment for artists.”
According to the documents, Blackstock received commissions for each of Clarkson’s mentioned engagements, including $1,983,155.70 for her role as a coach on The Voice, $208,125 for a promotional deal with NCL, $450,000 for a collaboration with Wayfair, and $93.30 for her multi-year contract as the host of the Billboard Music Awards. All of these earnings must now be reimbursed to his ex-wife.
Clarkson and Blackstock were married for nearly seven years before she filed for divorce in June 2020, a process that was finalized two years later. The couple has two children together, daughter River Rose and son Remington Alexander. Additionally, Blackstock is the father of son Seth and daughter Savannah from his previous marriage to Melissa Ashworth.