Brandon Blackstock Told Ex-Wife Kelly Clarkson She Wasn't 'Sexy' Enough for 'The Voice,' Claimed Show Wanted Someone More Like Rihanna
Did Brandon Blackstock never hear of happy wife, happy life?
A new report recently revealed Kelly Clarkson's ex-husband told her she wasn't "s---" enough to be a coach on The Voice, allegedly informing his then-wife the hit singing competition show wanted "someone s---" like Rihanna before landing the "Stronger" singer a spot on the series and illegally pocketing more cash than he should have.
Clarkson exposed Blackstock's harsh insults while making claims to a California labor commissioner last year, when the court ruled in the country singer's favor and ordered her now-ex and former manager to pay her $2.6 million as compensation for unlawfully scoring deals only agents were authorized to sign off on.
Prior to joining The Voice as a coach in 2018 during the NBC series' 14th season, Clarkson claimed she frequently informed her then-husband she was interested in an opportunity to join the cast, however, Blackstock allegedly told her executives were "looking for a more s-- symbol type" and she didn't fit the criteria.
The "Because Of You" singer additionally claimed Blackstock said executives "had to have someone that was Black. … They had to have a diverse thing," noting the talent manager told her she was "too similar" to Blake Shelton, who was already a longtime coach on The Voice.
During Clarkson's testimony, her lawyer Ed McPherson asked his client how she was able to recall such specific details from conversations taken place more than five years prior, to which the "Catch My Breath" vocalist replied: "Well, a wife doesn’t forget a time she gets told she’s not a s-- symbol, so that stays."
Elsewhere in the court documents obtained by a news publication, it was revealed Blackstock approached now-former NBC Entertainment Chairman Paul Telegdy and asked him to cut Clarkson a deal on The Voice unless NBC wanted to lose her to their rival primetime competition American Idol — where The Kelly Clarkson Show host rose to fame as the first winner of the series in 2002.
"In response, Telegdy asked Blackstock, 'What would it take [to sign Clarkson to The Voice]?'" the court papers alleged, to which Blackstock said it would need to be "somewhere around Blake [Shelton] money."
Blackstock notably had access to Shelton's contracts since he also managed the "God Gave Me You" singer at the time.
"Shortly there after, Blackstock called Clarkson to tell her the news," Blackstock's lawyer wrote in his counter filing against Clarkson, noting his then-wife was "very excited" about the multimillion dollar deal her spouse had scored for her.
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Clarkson said Blackstock "mentioned that he got The Voice for her multiple times" and "he was proud of it," admitting she was completely clueless until the trial that the Creative Artists Agency only received 5 percent instead of the standard 10 percent agents commission fee since Blackstock allegedly pocketed the remaining money.
"In fairness to Mr. Blackstock, I stayed out of the money part," she confessed. "I never was a part of the business conversations. I was always a part of creative. But no, that’s the first time I heard about any of that."
Clarkson's lawyer continued in court documents: "Mr. Blackstock’s story, particularly with respect to The Voice changed several times during the week of the hearing, sometimes because concrete proof of contrary facts were shown, and other times for no apparent reason."
"If there is one theme throughout this case, it is that Brandon Blackstock is not a credible witness, on almost every issue," McPherson declared.
Blackstock since filed an appeal against the ultimate decision of the court ruling in Clarkson's favor.
New York Post obtained court documents about the labor lawsuit.