Kelly Clarkson’s ex-husband has been ordered to pay her 2.6 million dollars.
The news came out on Thursday, November 30th after a California Labor Commissioner ruled that Brandon Blackstock overstepped by booking gigs for Kelly while they were still married.
According to TMZ, these deals included her coaching gig on The Voice, which he made 1.98 million dollars for booking for Kelly, partnerships with Norwegian Cruise Line and Wayfair, and her hosting gig for the Billboard Music Awards, which he made only 93 dollars and 30 cents for.
All four of these jobs together earned Brandon 2.6 million dollars, and he’s now being ordered to pay the money back to Kelly. According to the labor commissioner, only agents are allowed to legally book gigs for talent — not managers.
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But these weren’t the only jobs that Brandon booked for Kelly. He also helped book her daytime talk show, The Kelly Clarkson Show. It has not been revealed how much money he earned from booking that.
But the judge ruled in Brandon’s favor for that gig, and he was not required to pay the money back to Kelly. Still, Brandon has already made a statement that he plans to appeal the ruling.
Brandon and Kelly Had A Contentious Divorce
Brandon and Kelly had one of the most contentious celebrity divorces in recent years. She was ordered to pay him 1.3 million dollars and 45,000 dollars per month in child support — even though she has primary custody of the kids and he only gets them for one weekend per month.
She was also ordered to pay him 115,000 dollars per month in spousal support, but that is set to end in just a couple of months in January of 2024.
Kelly famously got their Montana ranch in the divorce, although Brandon fought to keep it. Brandon tried to argue that the home was marital property, but the judge ruled that it fell within their prenup, because the title to the house was solely in Kelly’s name.
The Math Behind the Divorce Settlement
Although Kelly’s divorce took two years to be finalized, it’s actually widely-believed that she got more favorable terms than expected thanks to her prenup. According to TMZ, Kelly earns about 20 million dollars per year, meaning that the 1.3 million dollars that she was required to pay him and the approximately 2.7 million dollars in spousal support is a very small amount compared to what she’s earning on a yearly basis.
Now, almost two years after the divorce was finalized, her ex is being ordered to pay her 2.6 million dollars back, which means that he’s now getting even less than he originally did in the divorce settlement. He reportedly does plan to appeal the ruling.
