For Kelly Clarkson, 2020 was a “dumpster fire” year for more reasons than a global pandemic. She also filed for divorce from her husband, Brandon Blackstock, after seven years of marriage. It has officially been finalized, and the “Since You’ve Been Gone” singer got hit with an astronomical monthly alimony bill in the process. The exact figures and details of the deal have prompted a lot of thoughts (as well as backlash) on Twitter.
The particulars of Kelly Clarkson’s divorce were a bit shocking to a lot of people. Per The Blast, the former Voice coach has been ordered to pay Brandon Blackstock $150,000 per month in spousal support and $45,601 per month in child support. That's right, close to $200,000 each month in alimony, and many of Clarkson’s fans have been noting the double standard of her ex getting applauded for making bank this way. As one Twitter user put it:
Now, Kelly Clarkson is obviously a celebrity with her hands in deals that go beyond the music industry, which explains why the monthly alimony is substantial. (In California, spousal support alimony is usually calculated by taking around 50% of one's net monthly income that is then reduced by half.) According to Twitter commentators, though, Clarkson should have invested in better lawyers for a better deal:
The monthly alimony bill might be big to us normal folks but, according to the legal documents, Kelly Clarkson makes up to $1.5 million per month. So obviously she can afford it, but many are still questioning if it is truly fair. Clarkson's ex-husband getting $45,601 in child support for their two children when Clarkson herself was awarded primary custody is part of the dots that Twitter just can't seem to connect:
The fact that Kelly Clarkson’s ex-husband Brandon Blackstock worked as an entertainment manager for years, for the likes of Blake Shelton and even Clarkson herself for many years, was another reason the alimony bill in question was thought to be peculiar. Even stranger was that, according to the legal documents, Blackstock supposedly quit the lucrative job to pursue a life of rodeos and has even purchased a ranch in Montana of late.
The alimony that Kelly Clarkson has to pay Brandon Blackstock has also brought to light an old issue that makes the situation seem not just unfair but a little insidious. Namely, Blackstock’s father divorced Reba McEntire in 2015 and supposedly got a pretty penny for it. Many online see the parallels as a pattern within the family:
On the opposite end of Twitter, fans are seeing Kelly Clarkson’s alimony loss as evidence of her strength. Particularly, they have appreciated her ongoing positivity on The Kelly Clarkson Show amidst the divorce proceedings:
The Kelly Clarkson Show has been steadily growing in popularity. The daytime talk show took in a number of Emmy nominations this year, with Clarkson herself earning an award for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host. Part of her allure has been her bubbly personality and charm on-air. She has talked about that one line in 40-Year-Old Virgin that haunted her whole life and even revealed in one episode how exactly Jennifer Love Hewitt came to be an inspiration in her American Idol days.
So despite Twitter's ire at Kelly Clarkson’s current alimony bill, it’s clear that the singer is still thriving. 2020 and 2021 were dumpster fire years, but perhaps 2022 will bring about a fire divorce album?
