Kelly Clarkson's ex-husband is expected to pay back the "millions" he allegedly overcharged her during his time as the singer's manager.
The 41-year-old 'Since U Been Gone' vocalist filed for divorce from Brandon Blackstock in 2020 - seven years after the pair tied the knot.
The former couple - who share River, eight, and Remington, seven - cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for ending their marriage, and finalized their separation last year, with Clarkson agreeing to pay a one-time payment of $1.3 million to her ex-husband, along with monthly child support payments of $45,601.
The American Idol winner also reportedly agreed to pay Blackstock $115,000 a month in spousal support, a stipulation that will conclude in January 2024, and the pair also agreed to joint custody of their children. However, River and Remington will live mainly at Clarkson's Los Angeles home.
While the 'Stronger' singer and Blackstock settled their divorce in early 2022, they still have other aspects of their relationship to settle in court.
According to legal documents obtained by TMZ, a California labor commissioner claimed that Blackstock, who helped manage his ex-wife through his family's company, Starstruck Management Group, unlawfully booked jobs for the singer and overcharged a commission.
Now, Blackstock is ordered to return over $2 million to Clarkson after booking her roles on The Voice, Norwegian Cruise Line, the Billboard Music Awards, and Wayfair. Blackstock stated that he would be appealing the order.
It has been specified that this is because only agents are allowed to book shows for their clients, and that while Blackstock was working with Clarkson, he was never a legally certified talent agent. In addition to this, she was repped by the Creative Artists Agency (CAA).
As reported by Today, this is a follow-up to the lawsuit Blackstock's company filed against the 'Broken & Beautiful' songstress in September 2020 claiming that she had unpaid commissions due to her time on The Voice and The Kelly Clarkson Show.
However, in October of that year, Clarkson fired back with a petition with the California Labor Commission, alleging that Blackstock committed several violations of the California labor code, including demanding "unconscionable fees and compensation" while acting "in conflict of interest with (her) best interests".
In response, a lawyer for Starstruck Management Group named Bryan Freedman penned in a statement to TMZ: "It is unfortunate that Kelly is again attempting to avoid paying commissions that are due and owing to Starstruck to try and achieve some perceived advantage in her ongoing custody and divorce proceedings."
Since the divorce, Clarkson has candidly spoken about her former relationship with her ex-husband and shared how the seven-year marriage influenced her newest album, Chemistry.
During an interview on the Today show back in June, the singer said she wanted to open up about her feelings on her split on the album - but made sure to keep her children in mind when creating it.
"It's very personal," she said. "And I've always released personal music - I think I'm that kind of writer in general, everybody knows that. 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."
Chemistry is available to listen to now.
