Shaq vs. Kobe… 50 Cent vs. Ja Rule… Kelly vs. Clive. Who knew that the alleged Clarkson/Davis feud of ’07 would go down in the history of classic beefs? It wasn’t that many weeks ago that some cynics were still insisting that the whole thing was a publicity gimmick cooked up somewhere in a SonyBMG boardroom, to ratchet up anticipation for Clarkson’s My December album — as if letting word get out that he’s releasing an album he doesn’t really care for would ever be the way Clive rolls. But by now it’s clear to everyone that there was no great PR strategy behind taking the artist/label contretemps public, and that the album’s fortunes have been affected in the collateral damage.
Today she released a statement about what she calls the "supposed feud," insisting that she and her team remain a "tightly knit family" and saying, "A lot has been made in the press about my relationship with Clive. Much of this has been blown way out of proportion and taken out of context. Contrary to recent characterizations in the press, I’m well aware that Clive is one of the great record men of all time. He has been a key advisor and has been an important force in my success to date. He has also given me respect by releasing my new album when he was not obligated to do so. I really regret how this has turned out and I apologize to those whom I have done disservice. I would never intentionally hurt anyone. I love music, and I love the people I am blessed to work with. I am happy that my team is behind me and I look forward to the future."
Why make that statement now? Because of some particularly bad timing. Shortly before the album was released, she fired her manager, Hollywood powerhouse Jeff Kwatinetz; her new one, Nashville-based Narvel Blackstock, apparently advised her to stop giving interviews. Kwatinetz had gone on the record in a couple of articles himself, talking about how Clarkson was getting a raw deal from Davis, echoing her own comments about the need for artistic freedom — but maybe he defended her so vociferously in print, and took on Davis so brazenly, that it suddenly occurred to the singer that "divide and conquer" wasn’t such a great album-launch strategy. Anyhow, Clarkson has been inside the cone of silence since My December hit the streets a month ago. Except you’d never know it because interviews she did prior to that are still coming out, making it sound like she’s still trying to stir up a good scrap.
She’d talked about the disagreements with her label chief in earlier interviews — including a cover story and online chat with EW — but the quotes belatedly coming out now surely added too much fuel to the fire. In a Blender interview,conducted while Kwatinetz was still her manager but released only thismonth, she described a key meeting with Davis like this: “I was like,’I don’t know you very well, and I am not a bulls–tter. I get youdon’t like the album. You’re 80; you’re not supposed to like my album.’” In Us Weekly, she managed to, by implication, up Davis’ ageeven further. “I just want people to hear it, instead of 100-year-oldexecutives making decisions on what’s good for pop radio." (For therecord, Davis is neither an octogenarian or centenarian but a strappingyoung lad of 74.) In USA Weekend,just this past week, she managed to avoid any age-guessing games butdid say of the industry legend: "I’m going to be real honest with you:I am not a fan. I do respect him, but I don’t want to barbecue withhim. We don’t braid each other’s hair. And, despite the rumors, he isnowhere near a father figure."
Talk about your past coming back to haunt you. As of June 26, the release date for My December,Clarkson had effectively shut up about Davis. But her July is beingseverely affected by her May and her June, when her frankness was stillin full bloom. If the album or any of its singles were huge smashesright now, she could afford that kind of cockiness out there in thepublic sphere (and, where it really counts, the blogosphere). But herthree-week tally of 463,000 units — good enough by most standards, butwell behind the recent pace set by Linkin Park, Maroon 5, and Hannah Montana — lent ammunition to anybody who, for whatever reason, had decided Clarkson needed a good ole smackdown.
Wisely, Davis has had no comment on this matter lately… or ever, infact. So he’s blameless in this brouhaha — beyond having delayed heralbum’s release by a few months while he tried to convince her tofatten it up with outside songs — right? Not necessarily, if you countsilence as a statement of its own, or passive-aggressiveness as adistinct dis. Some say the bad buzz really got started after a SonyBMGcorporate meeting this spring, at which Davis reportedly played fourtracks off the album and asked the attendees — rhetorically, or forreal — if they heard any hits. If you’ve ever heard Clive give a speechextolling one of his artists’ new albums, you know that anything lessthan a half-hour declaration of the Second Coming is an implicit voteof “no confidence” on his part. And then there was his presentation on the American Idol season finale — the speech that launched a thousand huh?s— in which he found time to praise the failing efforts of Taylor Hicksand Katharine McPhee, and pointedly raved about the songwriters who’dhelped out on Clarkson’s records in the past, without ever mentioningthat she had a new single or album. No one could prove in court that heintended it as a slap, but the circumstantial bruising was in plainsight.
What’s been lost in this, of course, is the ability to evaluate My December on its own merits. I’m on record calling it Clarkson’s best album yet, and the best post-Idolrecord anyone’s made, a contention I still stand behind. In a lessaccusatory climate, the label could still release “One Minute” (a fun,frothy throwaway) or “Can I Have a Kiss” (a terrifically ecstaticdeclaration of romantic desperation) as a single, and instantlydisprove the popular notion that her album is a depressing, hooklessaffair. But combine the fact that Clarkson’s songwriting abilities arenow being debated on street corners with the controversy over how muchAvril Lavigne has contributed to the hits she gets credit on, andsuddenly the burden of proof is on any young singer to prove that shecan craft a tune as brilliantly without professional song doctors aswith ‘em. My December has a lot going for it, between someperfectly dandy pop songs and some real growth in personal expression.But there are undeniably also clunky moments for the hater crowd toseize upon, and it’d probably be better appreciated without the extremescrutiny she’s had a big part in inviting upon it.
All of this has surely put some of the SonyBMG rank and file in a tough spot. I went to a Yahoo tapingClarkson did the night before her album release. It was a happy enoughaffair; maybe a couple of dozen label staffers were there, and she gavethem a shout-out at one point, offering props for their support andsaying something like, "These are the people at my label that I like!"(a comment I’m sure was edited out of the webcast). The staffers inquestion cheered back, in a mutual lovefest. But I wonder if they mighthave felt a bit awkward, as if their names were being scrawled on a"Dumbledore’s Army" list in anticipation of a showdown with the forcesof Voldemort.
No one’s been at their most honorable or smartest in this situation.Surely both parties have legitimate reasons to feel publiclydisrespected by the other. But at least it’s helped disabuse the publicof the least true truism of all time: that all publicity is goodpublicity. Clarkson and Davis are both Teflon-coated survivors, and theonly real damage will probably be her candor. If you’ve ever sat in onan interview with Clarkson, you know that she’ll talk to you ascasually as she might a best buddy, which is disarmingly enjoyable andalso, as we’ve seen, potentially bad for business. I suspect that, evenas we speak, new manager Blackstock is giving her some instruction inhow to watch her mouth and put her guard up. And though I’ll miss theshoot-from-the-hip Kelly, she’ll probably need those lessons, if she,too, wants to have a career until she’s 80. Or 100. Er, 74.
Comments (1-30) of 32 Add your comment
Holy s***, why is this still a topic of conversation? Kelly is brilliant, and Avril can’t compare. She is a no-talent mall rat. (And a plagiarizer). I’m sick of reading about this f***ing feud!!! Seriously EW, covering ti more won’t convert any more suportes to Kelly nor any more to Clive. Please, let’s drop it. Thank you for letting me rant, now everyon go buy “My December,” it’s brilliant.
Ok, spellcheck: *it, *supporters, *everyone
i could care less about the tension. i could care less about radio play and sales. NOBODY is selling these days thanks to downloading and sharing. i don’t care what the CD sells, the record is great. all i know is i like it, isn’t that what matters?
the title and header for this article are VERY deceiving, and WRONG after you read kelly’s personal statement.
Kelly is NOT stepping down nor is she apologizing to clive. she is just clearing things up in a neutral fashion, and NOT taking the blame, if you actually READ her statement. she and her label have been misunderstood by the public. that’s pretty much it.
and i wish this stupid “feud” would just go away so that everyone can try kelly’s amazing record without having to analyze all that behind the scenes c*rap. sheesh already.
I’ll go on record myself saying I don’t give a damn about how many records she sells–this cd is so much better than her last two–artistically and lyrically speaking. Who cares about seeing her in arenas? Personally I was glad she cancelled her arena tour (I know the article doesn’t mention this)–I like to see artists in a much more intimate setting.
I completely agree with Court. I’ve been listening to to her album nonstop since the day it came out. You really feel like she is pouring her heart into every song on the album AND there are still even a few fun songs too! I do a agree that this album isn’t as radio friendly as her previous albums, but I think that only shows how she is growing as an artist. And while it is understandable why the big suits aren’t thrilled about this prospect, I think that when an artist is allowed to grow, then that helps with the longevity of the artist…which also means more dollars in the long run.
I listen to Bob Dylan’s “Modern Times” all the time (sorry for that play on words) and I don’t hear a “radio-friendly” song tere either. The same for Fiona Apple’s “Extroardinary Machine.” Does that mean they suck? Kelly obviously went through a lot of personal stuff, and Clive has no right to try and stop her from expressing her pain so he can augment to his bloated bank account.
500,000 units in 4 weeks is not a bad sale at all…a lot of artists would kill to sell 500,000 units. If I recall, Kelly said something about Clive&Co wanting her to sing “used” Lindsey Lohan songs – songs that were on Lohan’s failed CD…and Kelly refused…I think that’s when she raged against the machine.
She’ll release “How I Feel” and everything will be fine.
Chris Willman, thank you for writing yet another piece that looks at the truth and analyzes it. It’s a pity that some articles are being dubbed as “news” when they don’t get a bit of information correct. While I myself am in Team Kelly in this whole “feud,” I’m glad you were able to appreciate Clarkson’s efforts while constructively correcting her faults.
Now if only society would be smart enough to just listen to good music and stop believing the trash that is published as fact in some media outlets.
While this is disappointing in the same way that Depp’s comment about his “America is a puppy dog” quote being taken out of context, kudos to both of them for not backtracking completely.
If Miss Clarkson would rather be a creative artist than a product, I salute her; she certainly has the talent. The best songwriters in the country aren’t multi-millionaires. Her label and the rest of the fleet of Titanics that make up the majors might need the money, but Kelly Clarkson doesn’t. If she can establish herself as a musical auteur before Davis and his ilk inevitably cast her aside, she can sell her songs from her website for the rest of her life. It’s doubtful the current music-industry business model will last so long.
Man, oh, man, it is GREAT watching any of the laughable American Idol alumni being made to squirm!
More, please!
“But I wonder if they might have felt a bit awkward, as if their names were being scrawled on a “Dumbledore’s Army” list in anticipation of a showdown with the forces of Voldemort.”
Oh Chris you have done the impossible: Link Kelly Clarkson with Harry Potter!
all i can say is thank god kelly opted to go with artistic integrity rather than corporate garbage, or else i wouldn’t have the pleasure of listening to her awesome album!
Thanks for your article as it was the most intelligent and accurate followup to the Kelly/Clive unfortunate saga. You did an excellent job of using the exact timeline to the events that led up to the eventual release of My December, which I also think is Kelly’s finest effort so far, and it’s a pity that it’s getting lost in the shuffle.
As a non-Kelly fan, it has certainly been interesting watching all of this. The most interesting part of the article was when you mentioned that is inaccurate to state that ‘any publicity is good publicity.’ As a Mariah Carey fan, I can attest that this isn’t true; during the Glitter fiasco, everyone was talking about her, but radio wouldn’t touch those songs(which in my opinion were very good) with a ten foot pole. Only with Mimi, four year later, did she recover.
The real loser here is the music industry. Kelly’s CD was supposed to be the big CD seller of the year; perhaps it could have helped the whole industry which needs it. But now, that opportunity is lost. Once again, the music industry shoots itself in the foot. Nice going, Clive.
I admire Kelly for standing up to Clive when he wanted her to release a same-old, same-old CD with the same people who work with Avril, Paris, Lindsay, etc. And I think it’s a shame if people are staying away from the record because of the whole “feud.” It’s called artistic integrity and vision, people! It wasn’t that many years ago that recording artists were allowed to have those things without having to constantly fight to express them.
This entire Kelly vs. Clive melodrama has, like most entertainment news stories lately, been 10% factual and 90% press dramatization. I really don’t see how Kelly’s most recently released statement translates to headlines like “Kelly backs down!” “Kelly eats crow!” and “Kelly makes nice!” that I’ve been seeing everywhere. And this may seem a stretch, but to me, this affair is just another example of the subtle misogyny and ageism at play in the music industry: if an older male musician has a disagreement with his record label, he is a rebel and a freedom fighter. If an under-30 female does the same, time to apologize and make nice with the much more intelligent and wise father figure record exec! It’s like the press is reveling in this statement acting as if Kelly’s been “put in her place.” I think they’d be happy if she put on an apron, baked cookies and just let the men in the boardroom discuss her next album for her.
“I think they’d be happy if she put on an apron, baked cookies…”
Well, anything that would keep her out of a recording studio would be, you know, good.
As much as I like Kelly Clarkson, this bru-ha-ha between her and her label has gotten OLD. Just release some songs and hope for the best. And then when her record contract is up, she can go somewhere else and do her own thing.
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Its too bad how this whole thing played out. I hope the album is able to redeem itself on radio because the album has some great pop songs for the airwaves. Release “How I Feel”, “Can I Have a Kiss” or “One Minute” next and hopefully the public will forget this spat and see that the album is no where near a failure that Clive allegedly says it is.
I’m glad her new manager told her to stop doing interviews. I wish someone had given her that advice before she made her unfortunate comments about Marilyn Monroe.
I just don’t understand. its not like Breakaway was some pop-y fergie/ brittney spears album. it was pretty dark, even the “hits” if u listened to the lyrics.
I don’t get it. IMO, the media is blowing this way out of proportion. Since when is selling almost half a million CDs in 3 weeks a flop? The album isn’t fabulous, but it’s a solid effort on her part. Leave her alone, folks, and let her make the kind of music she wants to make.
The main point in all of this is that Clive is still trying to do business like its 1967 and people are buying albums in record stores. He’s still trying to control the artists and punish them if they don’t follow his commands. The result? Low sales. How does any of this help the label or the industry as a whole. Clive has a whole history of artists he’s screwed over, and its beyond me why he’s still in control. His label (and all the labels really) are losing money hand over fist because of their antequated business practices.
What happened to the MUSIC?
Its a sad, sad situation, and its getting more and more absurd…
I notice the writer went out of the way to show Clive & Kelly are both at fautl, but lets be real here. Clive has publicly NEVER skewered Kelly. Shes taken shtos after shots at a respected (and successful) industry icon. Its her right to do so, but the rpess has eben treating her with kid glvoes, because lets face it, everyone loves Kelly Clarkson and you WANT her to succed because shes immensely talented.
If you look at this without bias you must also agree she is unprofession, immature & totally rude. I know PLENTY of 80 year olds who havnt lost their minds, are sharp, intuitive people. Dissing him for his age makes her sound evil. Theres a right & wrong way to say things, she’s been putting it all out there as if her actions have no consequences. Well, they do. And I personally dislike them.
EVERYONE & their momma has issues with their record label & artistic freedom. What makes her think shes so special? But they dont all handle it like her. She thinks she’s perfect.
“Once again, the music industry shoots itself in the foot. Nice going, Clive.”
yeah thats right, because Clive is the one that opened his mouth to everyone would listen about how He & Kelly are disagreeing on the record. THese are NTO the frst 2 people to disagree on how to make a record, unfortunately Kelly thought the best way to handle it was in the court of public opinion. She seems like she hasnt grown up yet.
“this affair is just another example of the subtle misogyny and ageism at play in the music industry: if an older male musician has a disagreement with his record label, he is a rebel and a freedom fighter. If an under-30 female does the same, time to apologize”
Yeah thats right, because her disparaging him for being too ‘old’ to put out a successful record isnt an example of ageism. Her first album did quite well, was pop-rock, so I think he knew what he was doing.
If Kelly approached Clive the way she comes off in these interviews, I wouldnt have much respect 4 her
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