Kelly Clarkson vs. Clive Davis: The feud gets nasty
Let's get one thing out right now: Clive Davis is one of the all-time heavyweights in the music industry. His legacy includes some of the biggest artists in history. Just this week, Davis released his new memoir, The Soundtrack of My Life, and the book is getting a lot of attention. Now, it's also prompting a very public and very nasty feud with none other than American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson. Why?
Kelly Clarkson apparently takes great issue with some of the things Clive Davis says in his autobiography. So much so, that Clarkson issued a scathing response via social media, claiming that Davis did not get the story right. At all.
Here's the gist of what's going on: Clive Davis claims in The Soundtrack of My Life that Kelly Clarkson was in tears when she didn't get what she wanted music-wise. He paints her as an overly emotional artist who threw fits when things didn't go her way. Kelly Clarkson says that's not true.
Perhaps we'll never know exactly what happened, but Kelly Clarkson went a long way today toward helping her case, in a passionate, well-stated missive. You can read it in its entirety on Clarkson's WhoSay page, and I urge you to do so if you want to understand all the aspects of this story. One highlight: Clive Davis claims that Clarkson was "hysterically sobbing" when she learned that "Since U Been Gone" (one of her biggest hits) would be included on her debut album, Breakaway.
Kelly Clarkson says that's not what happened. She says:
His stories and songs are mixed up. I did want more guitars added to the original demo and Clive did not. Max, Luke and I still fought for the bigger sound and we prevailed and I couldn’t be more proud of the life of that song. I resent him dampening that song in any way.
Clarkson goes on to say that yes, she did in fact cry in Clive Davis' office, but claims it's because he called her a "sh*tty writer who should be grateful for the gifts that he bestows upon me." She says he hated her (very personal) song "Because of You," and his comments were deeply hurtful.
So when I say this is a nasty feud, I'm not exaggerating. So far, Clive Davis hasn't responded publicly to Kelly Clarkson's angry post. It's a shocker, to be sure.
What do you think? This is essentially a 'he said, she said' story, and we may never know everything that went down. Will you read Clive Davis' memoir? Do you believe Kelly Clarkson's pretty shocking claims?
Photo courtesy of EW.com