Kelly Clarkson’s ex-husband Brandon Blackstock’s passed away on August 7 following a three-year battle with cancer. But now the singer is also having to deal with the fallout from the shock revelation that he was romantically involved with her former assistant.
Clarkson, 43, and Blackstock, 48, were married from 2013 until she filed for divorce in 2020. The separation was only finalized in 2022 after two years of legal wrangling.
In a bitter blow to the American Idol winner, she was not mentioned in the talent manager’s obituary, despite sharing two children with him: River, 11, and Remy, 9.
Instead, the obituary revealed that, up until his death, Blackstock had been in a relationship with Clarkson’s former assistant, Brittney Marie Jones.
Naturally, Clarkson had known for a while, but that isn’t to say she was happy about it.
Indeed, an insider has now told the Daily Mail that Blackstock’s relationship with Jones ‘was just the icing on the cake of the disappointment [Clarkson] felt over the delusion of their marriage’.
‘Brandon chose to move on with someone Kelly knew and trusted, and that just adds to the person he ended up being to her. He was a great father, but wasn’t a great husband,’ the insider added.
Clarkson has never revealed the true reasoning behind her divorce, only citing ‘irreconcilable differences’ in her filing. But our insider now hints that the ’cause’ of the split was ‘a point of no return’ for Clarkson.
Despite the crushing disappointment of her ex moving on with someone she ‘knew and trusted,’ the insider stressed that Clarkson ‘doesn’t blame’ her former assistant and is keen to avoid any ‘drama from her fanbase.’
‘When Brandon dealt more and more with his cancer, Kelly’s only goal was to make sure her kids were OK and to let him live his personal life any way he wanted to live it,’ the insider said.
As for the two women’s relationship, the insider added: ‘Kelly knew that Brittney wasn’t going to be a problem with her and her kids, there was never a misunderstanding between them.’
Clarkson’s divorce was not without drama.
Indeed, she separately sued Blackstock after accusing him of making unauthorized business deals on her behalf while working as her talent manager. They settled that dispute in May 2024.
Clarkson had claimed her husband owed her millions in commissions for deals that shouldn’t have been handled by a manager, and the California Labor Commissioner ultimately agreed.
It ruled that Blackstock had overstepped by working around Clarkson’s agents at Creative Artists Agency. He had to pay her $2.6 million.
In 2022, the singer had agreed to pay her ex-husband a $1.3 million lump sum as part of their divorce settlement.
They also agreed that Clarkson would pay Blackstock $45,601 per month in child support payments.
Following the legal rulings, Blackstock moved on and was quietly building a new life with Jones in Montana before his death.
His obituary read: ‘Brandon, along with his beautiful and loving partner in life and business, Brittney Marie Jones, started building a life, building companies, and working tirelessly to create Headwaters Livestock Auction and what will live on as his legacy, The Valley View Rodeo in Bozeman, Montana.’
