Kelly Clarkson's Divorce From Brandon Blackstock Finally Gets a Big Update

Kelly Clarkson and ex-husband Brandon Blackstock will once again face off against each other in a legal dispute.

Though the exes finalized their contentious divorce in March 2022 — two years after the singer filed, citing "irreconcilable differences" — Clarkson and Blackstock still have unfinished legal business to attend to. Namely, the Kelly Clarkson Show host, 42, and Blackstock, 47, are headed to trial in August to see if the talent manager was in violation of California's Talent Agencies Act during his romance with Clarkson, per Us Weekly. The act prohibits anyone but the artist from taking commission on deals "procured for" by the talent; the trial will determine if Blackstock collected fees on deals he helped broker for his former spouse.

"We will litigate whether there was a violation of the labor code only," Judge Wendy Chang ruled, according to Us. "Any questions as to earnings and damages, all of that will come after."

The "de novo" trial is moving forward after Blackstock appealed a November 2023 ruling about the issue that awarded Clarkson with $2.6 million. (A "de novo" trial, per Cornell Law, is when a court will decide issues "without reference to any legal conclusion or assumption made by the previous court to hear the case.")

Clarkson and Blackstock's past divorce drama included fights over alimony, child support and custody. (The former couple are parents of daughter River, 9, and son Remy, 7.)

In their 2022 divorce agreement, Clarkson was granted primary custody of their children and agreed to pay $45,601 per month in child support to her ex. Additionally, she OKed the payment of $115,000 per month to Blackstock until January 2024. She also paid him a one-time fee of $1.3 million.

Blackstock, for his part, was ordered to pay Clarkson $12,500 per month in rent while living at their Montana ranch at the time.

Over the years, the Grammy winner has been candid about the hardships of the divorce.

"Just to be brutally honest, I did not handle it well. I had many sessions with just my friends [where] I couldn't even speak. I was crying so hard, even before separating," Clarkson told Zane Lowe in a June 2023 Apple Music 1 interview. "There were just a lot of now unhealthy habits you recognize or habits that you recognize that you didn't see before. Hindsight is a lot easier."