Kelly Clarkson Seeks $5M Bond From Ex-Husband Brandon Blackstock Pending Judgment Appeal

Highlights

• Kelly Clarkson's divorce settlement initially included large payments to her ex-husband, despite her primary custody of their children.
• Legal wrangling continues, as Brandon Blackstock was ordered to repay $2.6 million to Kelly Clarkson in late 2023.
• In early 2024, Kelly Clarkson requested that Blackstock pay a bond of $5.2 million before appealing the judgment in their ongoing court case.

Singer and talk show host Kelly Clarkson isn't done dealing with the fallout from ongoing litigation with ex-husband Brandon Blackstock, as newly obtained court documents revealed.

Clarkson met Blackstock back in 2006. The couple were engaged in 2012 and married the following year, according to a timeline of their relationship published by People magazine.

Clarkson and Blackstock separated in June 2020, finalizing their divorce in March 2022.

Nevertheless, the couple are still hammering out some pretty large details, as court documents obtained by RadarOnline on March 1st indicated.

There's a lot going on, so let's start at the beginning.

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Kelly Clarkson And Brandon Blackstock's Tumultuous Divorce

As indicated above, Kelly Clarkson and Brandon Blackstock separated in June 2020, and finalized their divorce in March 2022.

Initially, Clarkson was ordered to pay Blackstock significant amounts, both as a settlement and in terms of child support.

In July 2021, TheRichest.com reported that Clarkson's child support obligation was a staggering $200,000 per month early in the negotiations:

" ... in this instance, Clarkson was the clear breadwinner and the tables have turned. TMZ reports that she has just been smacked with a $200,000 a month settlement to cover Brandon's spousal and child support payments."

Then, in October 2021, Clarkson was awarded the rights to her $10.2 million mansion, an asset contested in the couple's marital dissolution.

On March 9th 2022, we covered the initial terms of their finalized divorce, noting that Clarkson reportedly was not amenable to them:

"Kelly Clarkson is so moving on from her marriage to Brandon Blackstock after finally reaching a divorce settlement following two years of bitter negotiations. The singer agreed to pay her ex-husband $45,000 a month in child support on top of a massive one-time payment of $1.32 million.

"The [then] 39-year-old singer announced her split from the talent manager, [then] 45, after nearly seven years of marriage in June 2020. In January [2022], a source told Us Weekly that Clarkson wouldn’t even 'entertain the idea of agreeing to a settlement,' but it looks like she has had a change of heart."

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Sometimes, a finalized divorce settlement marks the end of post-marital squabbling.

But in Blackstock and Clarkson's split, that has apparently not been the case.

In June 2022, Blackstock vacated the mansion in question, and we reported on some of the then-current terms — noting that Clarkson's child support obligation existed despite her maintaining primary custody of the pair's children:

"However, Kelly was saddled with an even larger bill following the divorce. The American Idol alum has to pay her ex-husband $115,000 in spousal support until 2024.

"She must also give Brandon $45,000 in child support, though their two children remain in her primary custody. To top it off, Kelly also had to make a one-time payment to Brandon of $1.3 million."

In the first few years of the split, developments in the divorce didn't seem to be favorable for Clarkson — but their legal back and forth was far from over.

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Kelly Clarkson's Legal Victories

Skipping ahead to December 2023, Kelly Clarkson was still trying to hammer out terms of the split, and she began scoring "legal victories."

On December 1st, People reported that Brandon Blackstock had been ordered to pay Clarkson a hefty sum by California's labor commissioner:

"Brandon Blackstock helped orchestrate several business deals for his ex-wife Kelly Clarkson while serving as her manager — but he wasn't supposed to, a California labor commissioner has ruled ... Clarkson scored a victory in her latest legal battle against Blackstock.

"According to documents obtained by PEOPLE, he's been ordered to pay her $2,641,374 for overstepping in his managerial role and unlawfully procuring deals that should've been handled by a talent agent. His legal team has filed to appeal the ruling."

Later in the article, the outlet detailed some of the commissions Blackstock allegedly received, adding that he was ordered to repay them to his former wife:

"Documents state that Blackstock was paid commissions for each of Clarkson's aforementioned gigs, including $1,983,155.70 for her deal as a coach on The Voice, $208,125 for a promotional deal with NCL, $450,000 for a collaboration with Wayfair and $93.30 for her multi-year contract as the Billboard Music Awards host — all of which must now be paid back to the 'Miss Independent' singer."

Per People, Blackstock's legal team elected immediately to appeal the ruling, also known as "contesting" the judgment.

On January 2nd of this year, Us Weekly reported that Clarkson was "relieved" her spousal support payments to Blackstock had concluded:

"Kelly is feeling relieved that her spousal support to Brandon has come to an end,' a source exclusively tells Us Weekly. She’s been ready for this for a while now and is so happy her payments to Brandon will be complete.

"It’s so nice knowing that this chapter of her life can close with the new year."

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On March 1st, RadarOnline claimed to have obtained legal documents pertaining to Blackstock's planned appeal.

According to RadarOnline, Clarkson requested Blackstock put up a bond of over $5 million before the appeal could proceed:

"Kelly Clarkson and her ex-husband Brandon Blackstock have continued to duke it out in court — in the months after he was ordered to pay the talk show host $2.6 million.

"According to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, Clarkson asked that Blackstock not be allowed to move forward with his appeal of the judgment until he forks over a $5.2 million bond."

What Is A 'Bond' In Civil Litigation? In legal contexts, the concept of "bond" is perhaps most commonly associated with criminal cases and "bail," understood to be a sum of money held by the courts to ensure a defendant doesn't flee amid a pending trial.

In civil litigation, a bond (or "surety bond") is similar; a New York-based bond agent said surety bonds are sought by various parties ("Appellant, Plaintiff, Defendant, or anyone who seeks Court intervention"), and "the bond protects the Obligee from loss as a result of the ensuing litigation."

In this particular instance, Clarkson's request could be intended to determine whether Blackstock's liquidity is sufficient to resolve the judgment.

In other words, Clarkson asked the court to hold $5.2 million of Blackstock's funds as a stipulation for his appeal to move forward.

According to RadarOnline, Kelly Clarkson asked the court for Blackstock to "be ordered to post a bond of $5,282,746 'to stay' her award against Starstruck and its principals — and to move forward with the appeal"; a judge has yet to rule on Clarkson's motion.

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