Do we like Kelly Clarkson?
Our score: 8 out of 10. A long, consistent run of backing LGBTQ+ people and giving to charity, held back by a 2011 political misstep and a contested workplace report.
Kelly Clarkson was born in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1982 and grew up in Burleson. Her parents separated when she was six, and the family moved around a fair bit before settling there. She wanted to be a marine biologist until a teacher got her into the school choir, which is how the world nearly lost a singer to dolphins.
She won the very first American Idol in September 2002, and her single A Moment Like This shot from No. 52 to No. 1 on the Billboard chart. Breakaway followed in 2004, went five times platinum in the US, and won her two Grammys. Earlier this year she said Idol misled her about the prizes, claiming the promised million dollars was really career investment and that the promised car never turned up.
In May 2023 Rolling Stone reported allegations from 11 current and former staff that her talk show was overworked and underpaid. They called her fantastic and pointed the finger at producers. Clarkson called the allegation of anyone feeling unheard and disrespected unacceptable, announced leadership training including for herself, and NBCUniversal said it takes complaints very seriously. Separately, her former manager's company sued her over unpaid commissions in 2020, and the case settled confidentially in May 2024.
The latest is a bit of a storm in a teacup. In February she announced the show would end after seven seasons so she could step back from the daily schedule, saying she'd keep making music. Then in October she posted on X about a Brooklyn shop she felt had brushed her off, while the store said the item she wanted was never for sale. It's a minor spat, mostly told by lighter outlets.
The good stuff is real. Her Miracle on Broadway concert in Nashville raised $400,000 through her Fruition Fund for a children's hospital, a children's home, a food bank and a women's charity. Her show has also put trans voices on daytime TV when plenty of places would rather not.
So: would we support her? Yes. She's been kind, steady and visibly on our side for years, the one 2011 political stumble was apologised for, and the workplace story is a question about her show's culture rather than a pattern of cruelty. Not quite a ten, but a solid eight.