Kelly Clarkson’s half-brother Erik Clarkson spoke out about the former American Idol winner’s divorce from Brandon Blackstock, saying how she will need “all the support she can get.” Clarkson and Blackstock were married for almost seven years and are parents to two children, daughter River Rose, 5, and son Remington Alexander, 4. The Kelly Clarkson Show host filed for divorce on June 4 in Los Angeles court. She has not publicly commented on the divorce yet.
Erik, the son of Clarkson’s late father Stephen Michael Clarkson and his second wife, told InTouch Weekly he is “so sorry” about the divorce. Clarkson was estranged from her father, but Erik said she is still his older sister and is considering reaching out. “I wouldn’t mind speaking to her to get our family back together,” he said. “I’d love to give her all the support she needs.”
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Clarkson, who was quarantined during the coronavirus pandemic with Blackstock at their Montana ranch, listed “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for divorce. The date of separation was listed as “TBD.” According to the court documents obtained by Entertainment Tonight, Clarkson asked for joint legal and physical custody of their children. She is also asking the court to follow the premarital agreement they signed and that the couple pays their own attorney’s fees. She is also seeking to change her name legally back to Clarkson.
The split came as a surprise to fans and, reportedly, Clarkson’s friends as well. On April 24, Blackstock, their children and his son Seth, 13, all wish Clarkson a happy birthday in a cute clip that aired on The Kelly Clarkson Show. “Just now seeing this and I am bawling! They’re all so cute! I’ve had a bit of a rough week and this just turned it around,” Clarkson tweeted.
Blackstock is the son of Clarkson’s former manager and Reba McEntire’s ex-husband, Narvel Blackstock. The two started dating in 2012 and married in October 2013. However, the two first met six years before they started dating, and he was still married to his first wife, Melissa Ashworth.
“I was single for a very, long time and it’s hard when you’re in the limelight [and] you’re financially set and maybe they aren’t — it’s just a lot of intimidation,” Clarkson told Entertainment Tonight in October 2017. “I’m a whole lot of person and I’ve dated people who are like, ‘You’re a lot,’ and that’s cool — I am a lot but [I thought,] ‘Somebody is going to love that someday and it’s not you, so that’s fine.’ I found a cowboy, a real man that can handle this.”
