Major Update in Kelly Clarkson and Ex Brandon Blackstock Divorce Case

Kelly Clarkson and Brandon Blackstock

A couple of major decisions were made this week regarding the court case involving Kelly Clarkson and her ex-husband, Brandon Blackstock, who are now scheduled to go to trial this summer.

The singer and her former manager are clashing over allegations that Blackstock, 47, took commissions for a handful of deals that he secured for Clarkson as her manager while they were married, including her role as a judge on The Voice. Doing so would have violated California’s Talent Agencies Act, which only allows licensed talent agents to receive commissions for deals negotiated on behalf of their clients.

On Wednesday, May 8, Judge Wendy Chang ruled that the focus of the former couple’s upcoming bench trial will be on whether Blackstock violated the Talent Agencies Act, Us Weekly reported. The trial is scheduled to begin on August 27, multiple media outlets reported this week.

Related: Kelly Clarkson Talks 'Overwhelming' Depression Following Brandon Blackstock Divorce

Though Blackstock’s attorneys alleged that Clarkson had violated her contract and suggested that the money Blackstock earned as her manager was used to support the former couple’s lifestyle and their two children, Chang said the court “will litigate whether there was a violation of the labor code only” and added that “questions as to earnings and damages, all of that will come after,” according to Rolling Stone.

Clarkson, 42, filed for divorce from Blackstock in 2020, after nearly seven years of marriage. Though their divorce was settled in 2022, litigation over the time they spent working together has continued in the two years since.

Last fall, a labor commissioner in California ordered Blackstock to return about $2.6 million to the “Since U Been Gone” singer amid accusations that he had overcharged her while working as her manager. Blackstock quickly appealed that ruling, and a few months later, Clarkson filed a new lawsuit in March focusing on his alleged violations of the Talent Agencies Act.

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