Clarkson was recently awarded the temporary primary physical custody of her two children, River, 6, and Remington, 4, with her estranged husband.
After a California court awarded Kelly Clarkson temporary primary physical custody of her two children, River, 6, and Remington, 4, with ex-husband Brandon Blackstock, it felt like things would be a bit lighter on the singer's shoulders amid the messy divorce.
According to documents, the estranged couple would share joint custody of their kids and will have "the right and the responsibility to make decisions relating to the health, education, and welfare of the minor children," reported Today. The documents also stated that even though Clarkson has the primary custody of her children, Blackstock would be a part of the joint physical custody as well which gives him the right to "parenting time" on the first, third, and fifth weekends of a month in Los Angeles.
However, it looks like the idea of co-parenting is not as great as it sounds for the Piece By Piece singer. She recently opened up to Khloé Kardashian on her eponymous daytime talk show, The Kelly Clarkson Show, and discussed her parenting duties with the 44-year-old Blackstock, calling it "tough."
"You speak about co-parenting, and I'm doing that right now too," she told Kardashian, who shares daughter True with Tristan Thompson. "It's tough... I know with me and Brandon, it's just a difficult thing because we're in different places, and it's like, we both agree on the main things, but it's hard thing when you're not together all the time, for me personally." Blackstock has been staying in Montana ever since the divorce.
Even though the singer said that the whole co-parenting thing was tough with Blackstock, she also pointed out that they do agree on a few things when it comes to their kids. "As long as you make sure it's about the children and their best interests, then we're both on board."
The singer filed for divorce in June 2020 after quarantining with Blackstock during the pandemic lockdown. Expressing the struggles of going through a divorce on Sunday Today With Willie Geist, Clarkson 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. 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."
Then in November 2020, the Since You Been Gone singer reflected on the lessons she learned in 2020 on her show and said, "Even at 38, I feel like I'm always changing and progressing — in a good sense, in a good way — and I always want to make sure I'm being the best version of myself."
"My mom's been telling me since I was a kid: 'You are who you surround yourself with.' You want to make sure you're surrounded by people that also want to be the best versions of themselves and also want a good common goal for everyone, not just themselves, right?"
The TV host and singer added, "People could be bad for you in a certain time. And I think that everybody just goes, 'Oh, well that means they're bad.' Well, it doesn't necessarily mean that, it just means that you're on different paths. And I think that that's okay. Everybody's on a different learning curve, and everybody's learning something different at different times."
The divorce became messier after Blackstock and his father Narvel Blackstock sued the singer alleging she owed $1.4 million in unpaid commissions to their management company. Following this, Clarkson countersued the Starstruck Management company and her ex-husband claiming that the father-son defrauded her out of millions of dollars.
As per the documents received by Us Weekly on December 10, 2020, Clarkson 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.
Addressing her heartbreak in the first episode of her talk show, Clarkson said, "What I'm dealing with is hard because it involves more than just my heart. 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."
A source close to the singer told People, "Her priority is making sure her children grow up in a stable, loving environment" amid the split.
References:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCnMA9Gpucw&feature=emb_logo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGt7a4QhvdY&feature=youtu.be
