It has been confirmed by PEOPLE that Kelly Clarkson and Brandon Blackstock, her ex-husband and former manager, have reached a settlement in their litigation about millions of dollars in compensation.
“Everything is settled,” a source confides in People magazine. There is no disclosure of the details since they are secret. There will be no proceeding with a bench trial that was planned to take place on August 27.
The first publication to publish the news was Rolling Stone.
In accordance with the court records that were acquired by PEOPLE, Clarkson submitted a motion for dismissal on Tuesday, May 21, while Blackstock’s management company, Starstruck Entertainment, submitted its own plea to the Superior Court of Los Angeles on Wednesday, May 22 to dismiss all of the pop star’s allegations against him.
The case that Clarkson had filed against Blackstock in March was met by a response from Blackstock, who is 47 years old.
In the case, it was said that Clarkson, who is 42 years old, should be granted a sum that is more than the $2.6 million that a labor commissioner in California determined her ex-boyfriend due her as a result of allegedly exceeding his legal bounds as her manager. A filing that he submitted on Monday, April 15th, asked that it be dismissed.
Clarkson has accused Blackstock and his management business, Starstruck Management, of breaking state labor laws since 2007, when she entered into an oral agreement with the company. People has received court records in which Blackstock and Starstruck Management reject “each and every allegation” that Clarkson has made against them.
Blackstock’s lawsuit, which was filed in California, said that the talk show host’s lawsuit had to be rejected because the decision that was reached by the labor commissioner in November 2023 “is binding on Clarkson.”
Because she did not “file a notice of appeal within 10 days” from the time the decision was issued in order to obtain more than the $2,641,374 that was decided upon, her ex-spouse and his counsel argued that it was outside of the right jurisdiction to bring a separate action at this time.
Additionally, he said that the alleged illicit profits that he and Starstruck Management acquired had already been put into his and Clarkson’s communal estate, and that the fee ought to be decreased because of this fact in the event that the Grammy winner were to be awarded additional damages.
The filings further made it clear that “[Clarkson’s] Complaint fails to state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action against Starstruck and is, therefore, barred for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.”
The labor commissioner came to the conclusion that Blackstock and Starstruck Management had violated the Talent Agencies Act of California. This law states that managers are not permitted to seek employment for artists or attempt to find employment for artists unless they are working in cooperation with a licensed agency.
An appeal was submitted by Blackstock and his legal team in the month of December 2023.
In the middle of March, Clarkson filed a lawsuit against Blackstock, which was acquired by PEOPLE. In the lawsuit, she alleged that Blackstock had received payments in exchange for winning contracts with businesses such as the Billboard Music Awards, The Kelly Clarkson Show, Norwegian Cruise Line, The Voice, and Wayfair.
A “full and complete accounting from Starstruck of all monies received by Starstruck, directly or indirectly, in connection with any and all contracts, employment, or engagements pertaining in any way to the personal services of [Clarkson]” was requested by the singer of “Since U Been Gone” in the document that was submitted.
Additionally, this comprised commissions, fees, profits, advances, and fees for generating the product.
The marriage between Clarkson and Blackstock took place in October of 2013, and he served as her manager from 2017 to 2020. In the same year, she filed for divorce in June of the same year. Daughter River, who is nine years old, and son Remy, who is eight years old, are the children of the former marriage and business partners.