America’s sweetheart, Kelly Clarkson, is enduring a nightmare of a divorce, with her ex-husband seemingly determined to bring her down.
“I was destroyed, like on the ground crying,” Kelly recalls. She thought she had found true love when she married Brandon, but now she’s questioning if he was just using her. After their breakup, he quit his job and is now asking for spousal support and custody of their kids. Even Blake Shelton, who was once managed by Brandon, is taking Kelly’s side.
“Get your head outta your-“
So how did Kelly go from having a perfect family to living this nightmare?
“My biggest dream was to have a successful marriage and family, in whatever form that was gonna be for me,” Kelly says. She married Brandon in 2013, who was the son of her manager. “I had a thing for him because he was successful, and it’s very hard for women in this industry to date and meet a guy who doesn’t feel inferior to your spotlight. It’s tough to find someone comfortable in their own skin and okay with that. But he grew up with it, and that confidence was so attractive.”
Kelly wanted to build her ideal family with Brandon because she grew up with an absent father.
“Everyone deserves a great dad and that moment. We crave it because we see it with others and think, ‘Why can’t I have that?’ But not everyone gets that.”
“Have you stayed in touch with your father?”
“If someone creates a toxic environment and continues to hurt you, it’s best not to have that person in your life.”
Hurt and abandoned by her dad, Kelly struggled in love.
“I almost didn’t know what to look for in a man. I was a gypsy at heart and never thought I’d marry or have kids. Then I found this man who is so loving, he picked up all my broken pieces and put them back together. I didn’t even know men like that existed. For the first time, I am not alone for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and I’m very happy.”
It was Kelly’s friend Blake who encouraged Brandon to make his feelings for her official.
“You need to get your head out of your a** and ask this girl to marry you.”
Kelly and Brandon celebrated their wedding with a passionate kiss, capturing the moment in a stunning photo. Kelly announced the news with a tweet: “I’m officially Mrs. Blackstock.” She trusted Brandon to be her manager, believing he supported her dreams.
“There was never a moment I doubted his belief in me as an artist or my capabilities. Honestly, it’s kind of perfect. He travels, knows the business, and I don’t have to worry about it or explain why I need to work.”
Over the next seven years, Kelly built the family she had always dreamed of.
“Last time you were here, you were very pregnant.”
“Yes.”
“And now you have a very adorable little boy.”
“I’m such a mom, I keep talking about my kids. I love you so much. Happy birthday, baby. I love you more than you’ll ever know.”
However, behind closed doors, Kelly’s marriage was falling apart.
“Love makes you do incredible things and incredibly stupid things. I’m a fixer, and I think everything is salvageable. But you can’t help someone if they’re not willing to climb up there with you. I realized this wasn’t happiness for either of us. I was exhausted from trying. It shouldn’t be this difficult.”
Things became so dire that Kelly had to let go of what mattered most to her.
“I was on a flight home after dropping off my kids with him, and I was still on the fence. But it had gotten so brutal that I thought, there’s no light left. I looked at my daughter and asked myself if I would want this marriage for her. The answer was no. So why would I want it for myself?”
Kelly Clarkson shocked everyone with her divorce announcement from Brandon Blackstock. She was devastated to see the breakdown of the family she had worked so hard to build.
“It rips you apart. When you fall in love with someone and it doesn’t work, it’s a profound loss. It’s a death, honestly. You grieve something you thought would be forever. I was destroyed, crying on the ground. The pain was indescribable. I looked at my therapist and couldn’t stop sobbing. I said, I cannot do this.”
A friend who understood Kelly’s pain was there for her, having gone through a similar experience.
“Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert are getting a divorce after four years of marriage.”
“All this darkness and the breakup, you get to a point where you just have to move past and move on.”
While Kelly focused on protecting her kids, Brandon fought for money.
“He is requesting a total of $301,000 a month in spousal maintenance and $2 million in attorney’s fees. That’s a lot of money. Brandon Blackstock is demanding all that after quitting his career. You have to wonder, was it really all that great? And just how bad were things?”
Brandon is fighting for custody of the kids, and Kelly worries she might lose everything. Determined not to let Brandon take anything more from her, she decided to fight back.
“What I’m dealing with is hard because it involves more than just my heart. It involves a lot of little hearts.”
Kelly Clarkson claims that she was tricked out of millions of dollars. She says Brandon Blackstock defrauded her by charging outrageous fees. The judge ruled in Kelly’s favor, noting that Brandon made a conscious decision to quit his career and become a full-time rancher after their separation.
Kelly recently scored another victory, being awarded primary physical custody of her children. Blake Shelton stood by her like a true friend.
“Blake Shelton is no longer working with Kelly’s ex, Brandon Blackstock. He’s a stubborn guy. She is the best thing that ever happened to him. Blake is genuinely the nicest person and like the greatest big brother. Kelly came into my life 10 years ago, and she has been a powerful presence ever since.”
Despite her feelings toward her ex, Kelly wanted her children to feel like they still had a family.
“We have two little kids watching us, and we don’t want to set a bad example for them. I want them to aim higher. We know the best thing here is to protect our children and their little hearts.”
By realizing that she didn’t need to stay in an unhealthy relationship to have a perfect family, Kelly came back stronger than ever.
“There are several things I would’ve loved to avoid in life, but I needed to learn those lessons. I’ve worked hard to get through it. You’re reminded that yes, this is a moment. It’s not forever.”
“Congratulations on the new album ‘Chemistry.’ This music feels like a bit of your journal. That’s how I heal, process, and figure out where I am. When you find yourself again, it’s really nice. Piece by piece, I found out my hero’s me.”
