Kelly Clarkson married Brandon Blackstock in October 2013. She was pregnant with their first child together when they got married, and they welcomed River Rose in 2014, and then Remington Alexander in 2016. There was always a strange kind of vibe to Brandon and their marriage. Just weeks after their 2013 wedding, there were rumors (strong rumors) that Brandon cheated on Kelly. Her popularity and – what I would assume – her money whitewashed those rumors in the mainstream press, and Kelly always gushed about Brandon a little bit too much, especially regarding their amazing sex life (hm). And now it’s all gone to hell in a BIG hurry. Kelly has filed for divorce.
Kelly Clarkson is ending her nearly seven-year marriage to husband Brandon Blackstock. Citing irreconcilable differences, the singer, 38, filed for divorce in Los Angeles on June 4, according to documents obtained by PEOPLE on Thursday. The papers list the couple’s separation date as “TBD.”
Clarkson and Blackstock, who wed in October 2013, share two kids: daughter River Rose, 6 on Friday, and son Remington Alexander, 4. He is also father to son Seth, 13, and daughter Savannah, 18, from a previous marriage.
Clarkson had been social distancing at the couple’s Montana ranch with Blackstock and their children amid the coronavirus pandemic, even filming remote episodes of her talk show The Kelly Clarkson Show from their home. Clarkson put her Los Angeles home on the market for nearly $10 million in April, but has since removed it. Their family had been living full-time at their home in L.A. after they relocated from Tennessee so Clarkson can film her NBC daytime program.
Yeah, my immediate thought was “he was cheating” but my second thought was “another coronavirus divorce.” The pandemic – and more than that, the lockdown – has forced a lot of already-rocky marriages to reach a boiling point. Kelly is reportedly worth about $45 million, and she’s already asking the court to enforce the existing prenup (clever girl). She’s asking the court to order joint legal custody of their two kids as well. There’s some Twitter tea I was trying to crowdsource about the Blackstock family and how Brandon’s father was married to Reba McIntyre and how his dad was rumored to be a womanizer too. Hm. Learned behaviors.
The Blast broke the story and they ran like twenty follow-ups, one of which was that their “sources” say that the split is totally amicable and there was no affair, and their friends were shocked because Kelly and Brandon always seemed so loved up.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
I figured there was something up when she was posting about how cozy they were holed up in that cabin on the ranch or whatever. You shove two young kids, yourselves and two teenagers in a ONE ROOM sleep set up “efficiency” cabin or whatever, and you’re just going to all go nuts. I also really don’t understand the allure of having her kind of wealth and living in such a …. crappy looking log cabin lol. And I live in a rural area, we camp, tons of people have camps/cottages. And this one that they were showing off just … looked awful? It looked like something a prepper would live in.
Their plans were to build a house there, and stay in the existing building while that was being done. I didn’t expect it to be so small, because she said after building their home, the older place would be turned into a B & B.
Huh? They own a ranch but live in a one room cabin? Really? That is a recipe for disaster if true. Not to mention unnecessary.
I’m not a huge fan of her music, but I have a fondness for Kelly Clarkson. A family member of mine works in a medical field and met Kelly once in that capacity and said she wouldn’t have even known Kelly was famous—she was kind to everyone and super down-to-earth.
Right? I love her. Love her voice. Her songs just don’t match her talent. For someone that talented she should be given better songs.
My first thought was ….the nanny…but hey I’m cynical.
This makes me kind of sad, she always seemed very happy with him, and very inclusive of his older children.
Busy lives in Los Angeles vs a couple months in Montana stuck together, might just be a coronavirus split.
People who brag all the time are compensating for something. Whether it’s couples posting constant loved-up selfies together on social media and going on about their s*x lives or guys bragging about their gen!tals, if people are trying really hard to convince you there’s no smoke, there’s probably a blazing inferno.
Yup.
Also he always gave me a pervert vibe. Like a guy who always sneaks of to the seediest possible stripper clubs.
I got the same vibe and I remember those rumors about him. Seems like she was working way too hard to carry the relationship. Leann and Eddie, your table is waiting.
Me too!!!! He gives me a super creepy vibe. Like someone I wouldn’t have trouble social distancing from.
He just doesn’t seem trustworthy. Like he’d cheat in a minute if he got the chance.
I like Kelly lots and don’t want her sad. Sounds silly maybe. Only watched her talk show a couple times but like her music and energy, enjoy her music and watched her on the Voice. She added so much to that show.
I like her too and love her on the Voice…she’s the main reason I watch, and John Legend. Love them both.
I started watching once she joined (I think I saw the first or second season way back). I like John a lot on the show too. Can’t stand Blake, and I didn’t care for the Jonas brother that was on last season.
I started watching The Voice after she and John Legend joined. But I quit the show a few minutes into the finale this year when they brought back Ceelo Green. There were no non-rapists who could sing his part? That move felt gross to me and made me lose interest in the show.
Ew, I must have missed that! I didn’t watch much of the finale. That’s awful, he shouldn’t be on anything ever.
It was a group song with a lot of artists, so he would have been easy to miss.
I agree with you about how often he should be in things.
Coronavirus divorce. Similar to Rachel Hollis and her husband. When there is smoke, there is fire!
I recently read Girl, Wash Your Face (low-key hated it) and thought her relationship sounded like it was built on such toxic foundations, so that didn’t surprise me!
Yeah….that marriage did not seem awesome to me!
Didn’t their marriage start under weird circumstances? Like did he leave his first wife for her?
That’s what I thought too! So, I went snooping…this is what I found. Who see someone’s husband, and is like “He’s gonna be mine one day?”! Lol.
https://www.celebitchy.com/279060/kelly_clarkson_just_knew_she_had_a_future_with_her_fiance_-_when_he_was_married/
https://www.celebitchy.com/269667/kelly_clarkson_is_engaged_to_her_boyfriend_of_a_year_brandon_blackstock/
Yeah he is a man with the 7year itch!
(twice…and counting?)
Cannot remember where I read it, ugh. But a rumor circulating that hubby wanted more excitement in boudoir and pressured her into a onetime threesome. Which turned into being more frequent which she pushed back on. Until she discovered
….tres surprise…. He was also seeing the other woman without Kelly.
Laura a BG fits this perfect
nah, that blind was about thomas middleditch and mollie gates. previously discussed on this site. kelly’s husband is just a cheating cheater.
Sounds like this guy’s had two back to back marriages and doesn’t remember being single, but if he thinks a swinging singles life awaits him post-divorce, I suspect he’s gonna be reality-checked.
Speaking of the pandemic and divorces… Rachel Hollis and her husband announced they’re divorcing too. They’ve made tons of money off presenting this toxically positive image of their marriage and life. Had to be pretty bad to divorce despite all they stood to lose. Of course, there’s probably a conscious uncoupling or divorcing with grace book coming!
I’m going to be there’s going to be a LOT of influencer types divorcing. I think there’s so many of them that put SO much time and energy into the appearance of perfection that there’s just no way to maintain that. And now that they’re all being forced to actually spend time with their spouses, I’m sure it’s even harder to keep the facade up. I’ve only ever really heard about Hollis in terms of her plagiarizing / rebranding of other peoples’ quotes/ self help books.
That and the whole shitting on ‘fat friends’ portion of her book where she basically says how could you ever respect her in terms of a friend losing weight and then gaining it back. And how being overweight is living a half-lived life. Just another idiot who has a huge platform who can’t recognize their privilege. Seems like we’re seeing more and more of them lately.
Wait what?! She actually said being fat is a half-lived life???? What a horrible person. Truly, if you say something like that about people there has got to be something very wrong with you. I gained about 20 pounds after I was sexually assaulted 2 years ago, it’s pretty obvious to me that it’s related to the trauma. But if someone made that comment to me I think I’d struggle to not punch them in the face. I am so glad I never bothered with hopping on her bandwagon.
The way she described getting together with him in her book was so disturbing to me. It was basically like “he didn’t respect me, treated me as a booty call and wouldn’t associate with me at work events, but that was MY fault!” Good lord.
She is divorcing!?! There is such a thing called karma. LOL
I read her first book and was DEEPLY disturbed by how she described her husband and how we all should find a man who totally disrespects us and uses us for sex, but if we wait around long enough, they just might marry us…RIGHT..
I also was deeply disturbed by her fat shaming–I have PCOS and it is very hard for me to lose weight, despite eating really well, having a personal trainer, and working out regularly. She basically told me my life is meaningless because I am not thin enough her eyes.
I honestly have never been so happy to hear of someone divorcing. I found her books appalling and gave her a 2 star rating on Goodreads and that honestly was me being generous on my part.
Omg I’m shocked I’m not the only person who was gifted her book, Girl wash your face, and HATED IT! It was weird and I didn’t get the hype. I’m not alone!!!
This makes Piece by Piece a million times sadder
@A, yes it does. That song is what I immediately thought of, and how she put so much trust and stock in him after being destroyed by her dad. I hope she’s okay.
This is where my heart went also, ….
I’ve loved Kelly since I first tuned into American Idol years and years ago. I thought the singers were so bad and I was going to turn it off until this brown-haired girl came out singing “Don’t Play That Song” and her voice gave me chills. Stayed with the show and rooted for her to win. She was so humble and loving but with an amazing gift. Simon Cowell was not in her corner and really pushed for other singers but the viewers recognized that she was something special. I’m not a fan of her current pop music either as her voice was built for so much more.
Anyway, I’ve always thought her husband was going to do her wrong someday. Those cheating rumors seemed real to me, but she’s always been head over heels for the guy. Kelly has never had great style but I will always love how she looked on her wedding day–absolutely gorgeous. Now will she do a Taylor Swift and start singing revenge “I’ve been done bad” songs?
I think her revenge songs will be more like Natalie Maines than Taylor Swift. Can’t wait!
American Idol was so good when she was on. I’m rooting for her too. She could have done better than an industry type guy. He’s always been sketchy.
I saw a segment they did with their daughter where they were answered questions submitted by viewers of her show and there daughter told them to stop fighting a few times. They weren’t fighting, which was kind of what they responded, but now I can’t help but wonder if they had been fighting and their daughter was used to asking them to stop.
I don’t know, I’m probably reading too much into it. Kids say weird things. I’m sorry to hear about this, I like Kelly and I kind of always root for her.
A affair is how Brandon Dad and Reba got together. And after all that, he was her manager and that is how he got in foot in the door on the country music scene. The Blackstocks are that family with the ‘good, christian values’ as long as they align with other white people.
This is why I was and still am shocked that he a Kelly got together. She might be down to earth and peppy, but she was never stupid on social issues and her social media has been about Black Lives Matter and people in the comments tried to come for her and she was not having it. I would venture to guess that Brandon said something as well.
The first part of your comment is something that has been effectively glossed over. The way his dad and Reba got together was sketchy. He had several kids, and one later went rogue and gave a tabloid interview about their mutual plastic surgery, etc. Then it was crickets. I think Brandon’s mom may have spoken out, too, but then nothing. Reba’s first husband (a well known rodeo rider) was very quiet, remarried and passed away a few years ago with little if any news coverage.
Even the “her best friend” affair that allegedly split up the R&N marriage was a quick flash in the news cycle.
If Kelly follows Reba’s PR example, very little will leak out. Reba has the folksy persona down pat, whereas Kelly seems more of a loose cannon, so who knows.
I always thought the sex-life bragging was weird. I also always got gay vibes from him. I feel badly for the little kids.
I’ve never been a big fan of Kelly’s. She’s just too MUCH. She’s too loud and over-the-top for me and now I’m reminded of that Willie Nelson song: “You ought to hear me cry”.
“If you think I laugh loud
you ain’t heard nothin’ yet
You ought to hear me cry”
Maybe that was really Kelly’s theme song.
Anyway, the girl can sing and not just country.
Go online and listen to her sing, “The Trouble with Love Is”. It’s killer and I think there will be more heart broken songs to come.
As for camping out in a tiny cabin in MT for the past few months…
Whose bonehead idea was that???
I really struggle when people say folks (generally women) are “too much”, “too loud” “too over-the-top”….
What happened to “be kind” ? This kind of rhetoric isn’t helpful, it’s just plain mean. Folks who make statements like that are maybe “too judgmental”, eh ~
This is my opinion
We never know what goes on in a celebs private life. Why are people so quick to blame him and accuse him of cheating. Marriage is a two way street and sometimes it doesn’t work out. Both are to blame.
Something about this dude just seems off. Kelly always seems so sweet and kind. Maybe she was just ready for kids and he happened to be around? Kind of like Drew Barrymore. I feel like a lot of People in their 30s kind of settle in a marriage to have babies and then come to their senses a few years later.
I sure did….
100% this.
Agreed, which is why I am 39 and still not married despite my friends wanting me to join them in the settling club. I finally have a really good guy friend whom I could honestly see a future with and hope it goes somewhere.
You called it, Celebitchy. I remember back when they got together many readers here were, like, “Don’t do it, Kelly” or “You better not break her heart or I’ll hunt you down.” A shame. Kelly seems so genuinely nice, but beware people who gush about their perfect partner/marriage/sex life at every single opportunity. Overcompensating.
Always looking to the camera, never at her. Also got a weird energy from him. Sad for her… she gushed about her marriage.
We saw her in concert February of 2019 (it was super fun and I loved her live!) but she made some comment about him that made me side-eye the marriage. Something about never seeing each other but she finally told him he needed to be around. I can’t remember verbatim, but I do recall thinking – she’s on tour, but where does he have to be? Seemed off to me.
I read something on BlindGossip that feels similar to this.
There have been rumors since the get go about him. Good for Kelly for dumping that trash, she deserves better
I love her voice, and she has fought hard to have the career she had, was done dirty by Clive Davis and managed to maintain her career. I know the history of Reba and Narvel, and I thought marrying his son was a terrible idea, but I wanted her to be happy. I suspect he did something awful for them to have split. It seemed she really wanted her marriage and family to work out, and it just didn’t.
Beautiful family and beautiful parents. Better apart. That is ok. Hope they co parent well. Two happy homes are better than an unhappy one.