So long, Hollywood! Kelly Clarkson is leaving Los Angeles with her two kids for New York City more than one year after her divorce from Brandon Blackstock.
“This move won’t have much of an impact on Kelly and Brandon’s coparenting relationship since they already live in different states and she has primary custody,” a source exclusively tells Us Weekly.
The “Since U Been Gone” singer, 41, shares daughter River Rose, 8, and son Remington, 7, with Blackstock, 46. The exes called it quits in 2020 after nearly seven years of marriage.
The insider adds that Clarkson is ready to raise her little ones in the Big Apple as The Kelly Clarkson Show moves production from Los Angeles to Rockefeller Center. “Kelly is really excited for this next chapter and looking forward to a fresh start,” the source says.
The transition comes after a long legal battle. After filing for divorce in June 2020, Clarkson was awarded primary custody with Blackstock getting monthly visitation rights the following November. When they finalized their divorce in March 2022, Clarkson was required to pay the music manager a one-time sum of $1.3 million plus $115,000 monthly in spousal support until 2024, according to court documents obtained by Us.
However, that wasn’t the end of the issues as the pair engaged in a lengthy dispute over Clarkson’s Montana ranch, which ended with Blackstock being ordered to vacate the property in June 2022.
Their split hasn’t been easy on the kids. The Texas native revealed on the “Angie Martinez IRL” podcast in March that River and Remington were “really sad” about their parents’ separation.
“I literally ask my kids every night when we’re snuggling, ‘Are you happy? And if you’re not, what could make you happier?’” Clarkson recalled. “Sometimes they’ll say — especially the past two years — a lot of it — and it kills me — and I want them to be honest, so I don’t ever say, ‘Oh God, don’t tell me that.’ But a lot of times it would be like, ‘You know, I’m just really sad. I wish Mommy and Daddy were in the same house.’ And they’re really honest about it. And I’m raising that kind of individual.”
She continued at the time: “I just sit there and I’m like, ‘I get it. I’m from a divorced family as well. I get it. That sucks. But we’re going to work it out. And you are so loved by both of us.’ I think communicating with them and not treating them — not treating them like an adult, because they’re not — but not treating them like a child. They’re not small feelings. Those are huge feelings, and those are huge emotions.”
Reporting by Sarah Jones
