Celebrity Mound

While the fight between singer Kelly Clarkson and record mogul Clive Davis has been spilling into the press, Clarkson has been quite muzzled speaking directly about it — until now.

In the new August issue of Blender, which goes on sale next Tuesday, Kelly really lets Davis have it and she does not mince words. I’ve attached the cover of the new Blender.

Clarkson recalls telling Davis: “I don’t know you very well, and I am not a bullshitter. I get you don’t like the album. You’re 80; you’re not supposed to like my album.”

She continues laying it on to her record company: “I literally got told to my face that it wouldn’t sell more than 600,000 copies. And I got lied to. One reason I don’t like working with people at the label is that they lie. They told me, ‘We really want you to go to Sweden. Those people really want to write with you.’ So I flew to Sweden with lyrics I’d written to this track I’d been sent, ‘Since U Been Gone.’ I get there, and the writers are like, ‘Oh, we already have the lyrics. We just want you to sing it.’ It was really awkward. It was mean. That’s why there’s no relationship with them. Because I don’t like being lied to.

“I can’t stand it when people put out the same record over and over again. It’s annoying. If you’re going with the flow and not fighting, that’s settling. I can’t take that. Life is just too short to be a pushover.”

(courtesy of Four-Corners Communications)

Kelly Clarkson yesterday canceled her Aug. 18 show at Jones Beach and the rest of her summer tour after failing to sell enough tickets to fill 15,000-seat venues. No wonder Clarkson – who is at war with BMG chairman Clive Davis over artistic control of her third album, “My December” – fired her manager, Jeff Kwatinetz of The Firm, this week. Michael Rapino, CEO of LiveNation, one of the tour’s promoters, told The Post’s Dan Aquilante: “It’s mind-blowing when you stop to think about what Kelly Clarkson has achieved during her young career, but ticket sales have not been what we anticipated. We came to the realization that we had bit off more than we could chew.” Gregg Perloff, CEO of Another Planet Entertainment, also a Clarkson promoter, looked at the bright side: “The day when she’ll play arenas is coming, but for now, her fans should look forward to seeing her in a more intimate concert environment.” Tickets for the Jones Beach show can be refunded at the point of purchase.

(source)

Kelly Clarkson is one of those rare celebrities who’s not afraid to tell it like it is. In a revealing new interview in Elle magazine, Clarkson confesses that she thinks she’d be a “horrible” mother, has never been in love, and doesn’t necessarily want to get married either.

And she doesn’t stop there. The 25-year-old American Idol winner also opens up about her well-publicized disputes with her record label, revealing that Clive Davis offered her $10 million to give up five songs that she wrote for her new album in exchange for some top 40 surefire hits of his choosing.

“I am a good singer, so I can’t possibly be a good writer,” she says sarcastically in the July issue of the mag. “Women can’t possibly be good at two things.”

See interview excerpts below for more of Kelly’s thoughts on being famous, her tumultuous childhood, and the controversy over her next album, My December.

On not wanting children:
“My point of view is that I shouldn’t be a mother at all, because I’d be horrible. I’m not willing to be that selfless.”

On marriage: “I’m not keen on marriage. I don’t let many people in. Men come and go. Friends are what I care about.”

On being famous:
“I could give a crap about being a star. I’ve always just wanted to sing and write.”

On never having been in love:
“I know people probably think I’ve been heartbroken, because of the stuff I’ve sung and written. I love my friends and family. But I have never said the words ‘I love you’ to anyone in a romantic relationship. Ever. I am very old-school, conservative in my thinking when it comes to relationships. Love is something you work at. It doesn’t come easily. There are going to be bad days. You are going to have to work at loving someone when they are being an idiot. People think they’re just going to meet the perfect guy. Don’t be ridiculous.”

On being ambivalent about her success:
“It is weird when a 12-year-old tells me I am their favorite artist. I’m always like, It’s just because you’re young and you haven’t heard everybody yet. In time, I’ll be weeded out. And that’s cool. I know I’m a good singer, but I know who I am, too.”

On her bad qualities:
“I tend to be early. I’m not patient. I have no tolerance for stupidity. I work too much. All my conversations revolve around my job. So I’m boring.”

On her childhood:
“I had a really big issue with self-consciousness when I was young. I was highly emotional. I worried so much. For most of my childhood I was walking on eggshells trying to make everyone happy.”

On unflattering paparazzi shots:
“I’m fine with it. I just don’t care. I don’t wear makeup in public. I don’t worry about what I’m wearing. Hell, I wore pajamas in high school.”

On battling with record industry executives over the release of My December: “I’ve sold more than 15 million records worldwide, and still nobody listens to what I have to say. Because I’m 25 and a woman.”

On declining an offer of $10 million by Clive Davis to ditch five of her songs for more radio-friendly picks of his choosing:
“I am a good singer, so I can’t possible be a good writer. Women can’t possibly be good at two things. I haven’t lost my temper about it. It only drives me more. If your thing is to bring me down, cool. I’ll just work harder.”

(source)

Note to music industry legend Clive Davis: Stop trashing Kelly Clarkson – you are making yourself look bad.

“Clive is furious because Kelly has assumed total artistic control over her new album and refuses his suggestions,” according to an insider at Sony BMG, the parent of Clarkson’s label, RCA.

Davis, who runs Sony BMG, slammed Clarkson at a company retreat in April, saying she can’t produce hits.

And music industry insiders were dumbfounded when Davis took the stage during the “American Idol” finale to plug Taylor Hicks and Katharine McPhee’s new singles, but failed to mention Clarkson’s third album, “My December,” which debuts in June. Instead, Davis promoted the songwriters for one of Clarkson’s hits, “Since U Been Gone.”

Our insider said, “She wrote all of the second album herself – including the hits ‘Because of You,’ ‘Behind These Hazel Eyes’ and ‘Walk Away.’ Clive hated ‘Because of You’ so much, he would routinely mock it in meetings. It was one of her most successful singles.”

Clarkson is not only one of Sony BMG’s most profitable artists, having sold close to 15 million albums – she is also not a diva.

She hasn’t demanded to renegotiate her deal with the label, our source said, even though “she only gets like $250,000 an album when she could get millions. She refuses to take more money because she wants artistic control. And she has always turned out to be right. If Clive had had his way, she wouldn’t have sold nearly as many albums as she did.

“We are appalled he is picking apart one of our own acts – and one that we all love.”

The source added, “Kelly wanted to make a deeply personal record. Here’s an artist who didn’t demand more money, who handed in her record on time in January, after making him millions, and now he rips her? The music business is collapsing, and this is why. They won’t let people put out their real music. This is about his huge ego.”

But a Davis pal said, “Clive gave her ‘Hazel Eyes’ and ‘Walk Away’ and he gave her the production company to help make ‘Because of You’ a hit. We pay millions for the albums. This is incorrect.”

Clarkson’s rep didn’t return calls, and Davis’ rep declined comment.

(source)