Report: Kelly Clarkson’s Ex Ordered to Return Millions in Improper Management Fees

Kelly Clarkson has scored another win in her divorce from her ex-husband and former manager, Brandon Blackstock. According to a new report, a labor commissioner in California has ordered Blackstock to return more than two million dollars to Clarkson after concluding that he charged her improperly during the time he managed her career.

TMZ has obtained legal documents detailing how Blackstock allegedly charged Clarkson improperly for negotiating deals with The Voice, Wayfair and Norwegian Cruise Line, as well as her hosting gig on the Billboard Music Awards.

Blackstock reportedly overstepped the bounds of his job as her manager, since in most cases, an agent is the only person legally allowed to negotiate those kinds of deals, while a manager oversees the day-to-day details of an artist's career. The commissioner ordered Blackstock to return commissions in the amount of $2,641,374, to his former client and wife, who filed for divorce from him in June of 2020 after seven years of marriage. They finalized the divorce in March of 2022.

The labor commissioner allowed Blackstock to keep the fees he collected from negotiating Clarkson's deal for her daily talk show, the Kelly Clarkson Show. Blackstock has indicated that he intends to appeal the rest of the ruling, according to TMZ.

Clarkson won most of what she was asking for in her divorce, including primary custody of the couple's two children and a ranch in Wyoming that Blackstock hotly contested. Clarkson paid Blackstock a reported settlement of $1.3 million, and a judge ordered her to pay $45,000 per month in child support, as well as $115,000 per month in spousal support. The spousal support is slated to end in January in 2024.