Kelly Clarkson Claims Her Ex-Father-In-Law's Company Violated California Labor Code
Both sides presented documents and testimony to support their case at an evidentiary hearing with the California Labor Commission—which has yet to rule on the dispute. Kelly was managed by Narvel's company, Starstruck Management Group, for over 13 years.
Kelly started dating Narvel's son Brandon in 2012 and the couple tied the knot on October 2013. They share an eight-year-old daughter, River Rose, and a two-year-old son, Remington. The singer filed for divorce in 2020. She's been very open about how the split has "ripped her apart" and the heartbreaking reaction her kids had to the divorce.
Shortly after Kelly filed for divorce, Narvel (whose ex-wife is country singer Reba McEntire, 68!) and his company sued her. Starstruck Management Company claims that the singer owed them $1.4 million and an estimated $5.4 million in future commissions. "Over the course of approximately thirteen years, Starstruck developed Clarkson into a mega superstar," the lawsuit stated.
"By way of example only, Starstruck was instrumental in helping Clarkson achieve success in terms of numerous hit albums, multiple Grammy wins and nominations, her role on popular television shows like The Voice and her own talk show," the suit added. Kelly is serving as a coach in season 23. "Despite Starstruck's hard work and dedication, Clarkson has decided that she is going to stop paying Starstruck what is contractually owed."
"Through this lawsuit, Starstruck seeks to not only recover its commissions on millions of dollars that Clarkson has already earned but also the millions of dollars that Clarkson will continue to earn, which are owed to Starstruck for its prior hard work and dedication to Clarkson's career," the lawsuit concluded.
Kelly responded with her own lawsuit claiming that the Starstruck company violated California Labor Code by, "procuring, offering, promising, or attempting to procure employment or engagements" when they didn't have a license to do so. The singer also asked that her agreement with the company be, "declared void and unenforceable." Her lawsuit claims that not only does she not owe the company anything, but that they should actually be paying back the millions of dollars she gave them over the years.
Kelly and Brandon finalized their divorce in March 2022. The singer was awarded primary custody of their children but was also ordered to pay her ex-husband $115K a month in spousal support and another $46K a month in child support.
This week has been particularly busy for Kelly, who announced Sunday, March 26 that she was releasing her tenth studio album Chemistry later this year. She also said that the first single is coming "very soon."
"Alright y'all, it is officially time to tell you that I've been working on this project for close to three years now. And I wasn't sure I was going to release it but I am," she shared, before commenting on the title of her album. "The album is called Chemistry, and it's called Chemistry because I was trying to find a word—and also it might be one of the songs on the album—but I was trying to find a word that really described the whole thing," she said.
"I didn't want everybody to think I was coming out with some just like, 'I'm angry, I'm sad,' just one or two emotions, you know?" she clarified. The singer added, "This album is definitely the arc of an entire relationship, and a whole relationship shouldn't be just brought down to one thing." She then announced on Monday, March 27 that she is performing a 10-day residency at Planet Hollywood's Zappos Theater to perform her new album.