Clarkson's countersuing comes after Narvel Blackstock and son Brandon sued her alleging she owed $1.4 million in unpaid commissions to their management company.
Right when we thought that the very public divorce drama of Kelly Clarkson and her husband Brandon Blackstock was coming to an end with the singer getting primary custody of their kids, it has become quite clear that it's only going down the messier lane with latest developments. The singer has claimed that Blackstock and his father Narvel Blackstock's management company defrauded her out of millions of dollars.
In October, the Piece By Piece singer filed a legal document with the California Labor Commission claiming that Brandon and his Starstruck Management company charged her outlandish fees while she was with the agency.
According to Us Weekly, as per the documents received by them on December 10, the singer allegedly said that her agreement with the management company was a “fraudulent and subterfuge device” that granted permission to the managers to perform "illegal services" as agents.
The singer also said that the father-son duo was not licensed to be agents in the state of California. Clarkson wants the money she paid to the company for 13 years to be reimbursed. The Voice coach had previously sued the management company claiming that it had violated the California Labor Code. The legal document filed on October 20, 2020, stated that the company was not licensed when “procuring, offering, promising, or attempting to procure employment or engagements.”
The Miss Independent singer claimed that the company also violated the Talent Agencies Act several times and stated that the agreements between the parties should be “declared void and unenforceable," including an argument that she should be paid 15 percent commission on her gross earnings.
Clarkson's countersuing came after Narvel sued her in September alleging she owed $1.4 million in unpaid commissions to the company. According to Variety, the complaint stated, "Over the course of approximately 13 years, Starstruck developed Clarkson into a mega superstar."
"By way of example only, Starstruck was instrumental in helping Clarkson achieve success in terms of numerous hit albums, multiple Grammy wins and nominations, her role on popular television shows like The Voice, and her own talk show. Despite Starstruck’s hard work and dedication, Clarkson has decided she is going to stop paying Starstruck for what is contractually owed," it continued.
Narvel was the one who introduced Brandon to Clarkson following which the pair married in 2013. After seven years of marriage, the couple split in June this year. The American Idol alumna opened up about her divorce on her eponymous talk show saying, "2020 has brought a lot of change also to my personal life. Definitely didn’t see anything coming that came."
While talking on Sunday Today With Willie Geist, as per Us Weekly, Clarkson opened up about the struggles of going through a divorce and said, “I mean, it’s no secret. My life has been a little bit of a dumpster. Personally, it’s been a little hard the last couple months.”
The Since You Been Gone singer won the primary custody of her children River, 6, and Remington, 4, with Blackstock. As per the documents obtained by USA Today, the court has granted them joint custody of the children with the singer getting the primary physical custody of them in Los Angeles.
The court ruling read, “The Court finds that under the circumstances present in this case, the interest in providing stability and continuity for the minor children weighs in favor of Petitioner having primary custody. The Court finds that as this case has proceeded, the level of conflict between the parents has increased. The parties have a difficult time co-parenting due to issues of trust between them."
Kelly Clarkson Awarded Temporary Primary Physical Custody of Kids Amid Brandon Blackstock Divorce https://t.co/rJ3kZUVXet
— E! News (@enews) November 30, 2020
The documents stated that either party is not allowed to "speak in a derogatory manner" about each other to their children. Even the weekends, school breaks, and holidays are documented. Explaining her heartbreak, Clarkson said, "What I'm dealing with is hard because it involves more than just my heart," she said. "It involves a lot of little hearts... we're both from divorced families, so we know the best thing here is to protect our children and their little hearts."
References:
https://variety.com/2020/music/news/kelly-clarkson-sued-management-1234786434/
