In a recent legal dispute between Kelly Clarkson and her ex-husband and manager, Brandon Blackstock, it was revealed that Blackstock allegedly believed Clarkson wasn’t “sexy” enough to appear as a coach on The Voice. The New York Post reported that according to court documents, Clarkson claimed Blackstock told her that The Voice was seeking a more “sex symbol type” and used Rihanna as an example.

Clarkson, during her testimony to the California labor commissioner, stated that Blackstock mentioned the need for a “diverse” panel of coaches on The Voice and emphasized that they had to include someone who was Black. Furthermore, she alleged that Blackstock expressed that she was “too similar” to then-coach Blake Shelton.

When questioned about her ability to recall the specifics of the conversation, Clarkson responded, “Well, a wife doesn’t forget a time she gets told she’s not a sex symbol, so that stays.”

In November, Blackstock was ordered to pay Clarkson $2,641,374 for improperly securing deals on her behalf that should have been handled by a talent agent. The legal team for Blackstock has filed an appeal against this ruling.

The court documents revealed that Blackstock procured contracts for Clarkson with The Voice, The Kelly Clarkson Show, Norwegian Cruise Line, Wayfair, and the Billboard Music Awards, taking fees in return. While the Kelly Clarkson Show contract was deemed within the manager’s scope, the other four deals should have been handled by Clarkson’s team at Creative Artists Agency, according to the ruling.

The payments Blackstock received for these deals, including those for The Voice coaching role, promotional deals, collaborations, and hosting the Billboard Music Awards, now need to be reimbursed to Clarkson.

Kelly Clarkson and Brandon Blackstock were married for almost seven years before Clarkson filed for divorce in June 2020, which was finalized two years later. They share two children together, River Rose and Remington Alexander, and Blackstock has two children from a previous marriage.