Kelly Clarkson’s quest to become “Miss Independent†once again is heating up. As she works to divorce husband Brandon Blackstock, who was also her manager starting in 2007, Clarkson has filed a fraud claim against Blackstock’s management company with the California Labor Commissioner’s Office. According to documents obtained by OK! magazine, Clarkson made the filing in October, in which she called her oral agreement with Starstruck Management Group a “fraudulent and subterfuge device†and accused Blackstock and his father, Narvel Blackstock, of being unlicensed talent agents in California. (Narvel was formerly married to Reba McEntire, whom he also managed for a period.) Clarkson’s filing not only attempts to void her agreement with Starstruck and the Blackstocks, but it also seeks the money she paid for their services from 2007–20, arguing that Clarkson paid “unconscionable fees†for “illegal services.â€
The petition, set to be ruled on in February, could also dismiss a separate lawsuit that Starstruck filed against Clarkson in September. According to People, that suit claimed Clarkson already owes an additional $1.4 million in commissions from The Kelly Clarkson Show and The Voice along with millions of dollars from future payments. “Starstruck developed Clarkson into a mega superstar,†that filing claimed. Clarkson’s filing, meanwhile, argues she should not have to make those payments either. And by those numbers alone, Clarkson could see up to tens of millions of dollars back in her pocket come February, given her touring and TV success over the past 13 years.