The legal battle between Kelly Clarkson and ex-husband Brandon Blackstock isn't coming to an end anytime soon. After Brandon was ordered to pay Kelly $2.6 million in commissions he was wrongly paid out as her manager, the singer and talk show host is going back for more. Kelly is now suing Brandon, claiming that the contract between them that goes back to 2007 should be ruled "unenforceable," and if she's successful, she could end up with an even bigger payout.
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Kelly's lawsuit comes after Brandon has appealed the outcome of their most recent battle in court.
In November 2023, a labor commissioner ordered Brandon to pay Kelly $2.6 million in commissions that he never should have made from her deals with The Voice, Norwegian Cruise Line, Wayfair, and the Billboard Awards because managers aren't entitled to taking these commissions (usually, that's reserved for agents).
Since then, Brandon has started the appeals process, and it sounds like Kelly wants to make sure that stops here.
Brandon's appeal has led Kelly to file a cross-complaint.
According to legal documents obtained by Rolling Stone, Kelly filed the suit on Monday in Los Angeles. She's seeking to affirm the previous ruling that states Brandon (and Starstruck, the company he runs with his father, Narvel) needs to pay up.
"Based on the wrongful acts and conduct of Starstruck, all agreements between the parties, should be declared void and unenforceable, no monies should be paid by cross-complainants to Starstruck, and all monies previously paid by cross-complainants to Starstruck should be disgorged from Starstruck, forthwith," read the documents.
The new suit also argues that the contract between Kelly and Starstruck is unenforceable.
In the documents, Kelly claims that her contract should be null and void because she thinks Brandon violated the Talent Agencies Act by working as her agent when he was actually her manager. That could mean Kelly is entitled to any commission Brandon has made from Kelly going back to 2007, the start of their working relationship, because it's money he never should have made as a manager.
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Brandon's lawyer has already denied Kelly's latest claims.
"It is morally, ethically and legally wrong to attempt to get monies back from your ex-husband who not only helped her as her manager but who used those earnings on their children and Kelly and Brandon’s lifestyle during the marriage," his lawyer, Bryan Freedman, said in a statement to Rolling Stone.
The former couple has been battling their issues out in court for a long time.
Though they went their separate ways in 2020, Kelly and Brandon's divorce wasn't made final until two years later. Since then, they've both been locked in a contentious legal battle, and it doesn't appear it's going to end quickly.
According to the terms of their divorce settlement, Kelly was ordered to pay her ex a one-time payment of $1.32 million, along with $45,000 in child support monthly. Until January, she had also been paying $115,000 monthly in spousal support.
