After nearly seven years of marriage, Kelly Clarkson filed for divorce [1] from Brandon Blackstock this past June. The couple wed in 2013, and they have two children together, 6-year-old daughter River Rose and 4-year-old son Remington Alexander. Since their split, details have slowly started unfolding, with Kelly recently opening up about their separation [2] on Tuesday's episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show [3]. "I'm obviously going through one right now. It's horrible. There are so many hard parts. The hardest for me is the kids. That's the hardest for me," Kelly candidly revealed on her show. It was also announced this week that Kelly was awarded primary physical custody [4] of their kids. As new details continue to emerge, keep reading to see everything we know so far about Kelly and Brandon's divorce.
- Kelly files for divorce. On June 4, the 38-year-old singer filed for divorce [6] from the 43-year-old music manager after almost seven years of marriage. In court documents obtained by People, Kelly cited "irreconcilable differences" as the reason for their split and listed their separation date as "TBD."
- Kelly says she didn't see the split coming. During the season two premiere of The Kelly Clarkson [7] Show in September, Kelly opened up about her divorce [8]. "I'm so glad I can still connect with all of you in my studio because, as you probably know, 2020 has brought a lot of change also to my personal life. Definitely didn't see anything coming that came," she said. "What I'm dealing with is hard because it involves more than just my heart, it involves a lot of little hearts. We have four kids. Divorce is never easy. We're both from divorced families, so we know the best thing here is to protect our children and their little hearts." She assured her audience that she was OK, but she preferred to keep details private for the sake of their kids.
- Kelly is awarded primary physical custody of River Rose and Remington Alexander. "The Court finds that under the circumstances present in this case, the interest in providing stability and continuity for the minor children weighs in favour of Petitioner having primary custody," court documents stated [9], referring to Kelly. With the doc adding that "the level of conflict between the parents has increased," because "the parties have a difficult time co-parenting due to issues of trust between them."
- Brandon seeks spousal and child support. According to People, the music manager is seeking $436,000 in monthly spousal [10] and child support. "Brandon's been equally unreasonable in his requests for child and spousal support, as well as attorney fees. Kelly's offered to pay for all the kids' expenses, but Brandon seems to think he is entitled to and needs $301,000 in spousal support and $135,000 in child support per month," a source told the publication. "Additionally, he's already asked for $2 million for attorney fees when he's the one driving up the cost of the divorce with seven attorneys just representing him alone."
- Kelly gets candid about her divorce once again. During a December episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show, the host discussed her divorce with author Glennon Doyle and Alicia Keys [11]. "I'm obviously going through one right now," she said, referencing the split. "It's horrible. There are so many hard parts. The hardest for me is the kids. That's the hardest for me."