Brandon Blackstock and Kelly Clarkson married in 2013, having met earlier as his father used to be her music manager. They have two children together.
Nobody takes the decision to end a marriage lightly. It comes after the realization that trying to mend things won't work anymore. That there are irreconcilable differences and a breakdown in understanding each other. It's usually because one or both partners are unhappy together.
Singer Kelly Clarkson had a similar realization. Clarkson, who now has an eponymous talk show, recently invited a guest, who explored the matters of the heart, and during their conversation, she revealed more about her decision to separate from Brandon Blackstock.
Blackstock and she married in 2013, having met earlier as his father used to be her music manager. They have two children, and the family was holed up together during the lockdown. The time spent in close proximity propelled Clarkson to realize that her marriage wasn't working anymore, and the Since U Been Gone singer filed for divorce in June.
The American Idol alum had author Glennon Doyle over to discuss her latest book, Untamed, which is about the end of her marriage to Craig Melton and finding love with soccer star Abby Wambach, as per PageSix.
"We’re trained to believe to avoid at all costs a broken family," Doyle said. She added that she stayed in her first marriage until she realized, "Oh my God, I’m staying in this marriage for [my daughter], but would I want this marriage for her?"
She continued, "We’ve all been trained to believe a good mother is a liar. I didn’t leave a marriage in spite of being a good mother; I left because I am a good mother."
The host of The Kelly Clarkson Show replied, "That’s what I needed to see to make a step in my own life." She spoke of her own marriage and said that she chose to divorce after realizing, "This isn’t happiness, and we both deserve better. That line so hit home for me: I don’t want this for everyone in this scenario right now."
Clarkson has been open about her struggle with divorce and perhaps talking about it helps her. After all, everyone processes their feelings differently. The Breakaway singer, who faced many hardships as a child after her father abandoned her family, knows the difficulties of a broken home. She added that divorce is "horrible."
"There are so many hard parts. The hardest for me is the kids ... I think, as women especially, we're trained to take it all on and deal with it and you're fine. But it's your babies that you worry about," she added, according to People.
Recently, she was awarded primary physical custody of her two children, and the three of them live in Los Angeles. "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 document read, referring to Clarkson.
The document added that "the level of conflict between the parents has increased. The parties have a difficult time co-parenting due to issues of trust between them."
Another report by People said that Blackstock asked for an enormous amount for spousal and child support. He is asking for $436,000 in monthly spousal and child support. Blackstock, 43, has "been equally unreasonable in his requests for child and spousal support, as well as attorney fees. Kelly’s offered to pay for all the kids’ expenses, but Brandon seems to think he is entitled to and needs $301,000 in spousal support and $135,000 in child support per month," a source said.
He has also asked for "$2 million for attorney fees when he's the one driving up the cost of the divorce with seven attorneys just representing him alone," the source added.
Meanwhile, the court decided that he has to travel "back and forth" from Los Angeles to Montana to see his kids. Initially, the dad-of-four wanted his kids to do the travel or reside in Montana. However, L.A. has "undeniably been their home base."
The honest singer previously said that her "life has been a little bit of a dumpster," she said, according to People. "Personally, it's been a little hard the last couple months. I've been talking to friends that have been through divorce. I don't know how people go through that without having some kind of outlet because it is the worst thing ever for everyone involved," the mother-of-two added.
References:
https://pagesix.com/2020/12/02/kelly-clarkson-opens-up-about-unhappy-marriage-to-brandon-blackstock/
https://people.com/music/kelly-clarkson-realized-brandon-blackstock-marriage-wasnt-happiness/
https://people.com/music/kelly-clarkson-divorce-brandon-blackstock-seeking-436k-support-month/
https://people.com/music/kelly-clarkson-lifes-been-bit-of-a-dumpster-amid-divorce/