Kelly Clarkson recently got a touching message about her daughter’s learning disorder, and it brought tears to the loving mother’s eyes. This week on her daytime talk show, Clarkson welcomed iconic actor Henry Winkler. During their conversation, Clarkson brought up the fact that Winkler lives with dyslexia, which her daughter River Rose Blackstock has also been diagnosed with.
“She’s dyslexic, and you have told me that you’re dyslexic as well,” Clarkson said of her 8-year-old. “I find it amazing to tell my daughter that you’ve written like 40 books and you’re dyslexic because she was getting bullied at school for not being able to read like all the other kids.” Winkler then offered a kindhearted message to the young girl, saying directly into the camera, “River, how you learn has nothing to do with how brilliant you are.” This caused Clarkson to cry, and unsuccessfully proclaim, “It’s fine. We’re fine.” She then quipped, “My makeup artist is going to kill me.”
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After learning that River is in second grade, Winkler exclaimed, “I have books for her!” The actor is also an accomplished author and has written a number of children’s books. “I’ve been reading,” Clarkson replied, prompting a visibly proud Winkler to say to the audience, “Kelly Clarkson has my books.”
The daytime host then went on to share that Winkler’s openness about his learning disorder — as well as other celebrities, — has helped River. “Her school actually did a whole thing on dyslexia,” Clarkson said, “and they pointed out, Captain America, Anthony Mackie, is dyslexic. Shazam, Zachary Levi, is dyslexic. You’re dyslexic, they were showing all your pictures, and everything that y’all have done, and it really empowered her that y’all are so open about it.”
In addition to River, Clarkson is also a mom to 7-year-old son Remington Alexander Blackstock. She shares both children with her ex-husband Brandon Blackstock. Clarkson and Blackstock reportedly first met in 2006, while he was married to Melissa Ashworth. Blackstock shares two children with Ashworth: 18-year-old daughter Savannah and 13-year-old son Seth. The pair divorced in 2012, the same year he began dating and became engaged to Clarkson. The now-former couple married in 2013. Clarkson filed for divorce from Blackstock in June 2020, with the divorce being finalized in August 2021.
