The Breakfast Club - Kelly Clarkson’s ex-husband has tragically passed + Loni love has finally responded to Tamar Braxton’s “Big Back Cadillac” 

Episode Date: August 8, 2025

Kelly Clarkson’s ex-husband and the father of her children has passed from melanoma this week. Loren talks about their history of collaboration in parenting and Kelly’s career. Also, Loren breaks down Comedian Loni love finally  responding to Tamar Braxton after Loren sits down with Tamar during the 2025 BET Awards to catch up on her and Lonis  past beef from The Real.YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BreakfastClubPower1051FMSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. The Stuff You Should Know guys have made their own summer playlist of their must listen podcasts on movies. It's me, Josh, and I'd like to welcome you to the Stuff You Should Know summer movie playlist. What Screams Summer? More than a nice, darkened, air-conditioned theater, and a great movie playing right in front of you. Episodes on James Bond, special effects, stunt men and women, disaster films, even movies that change filmmaking, and many more. Listen to the Stuff You Should Know Summer Movie Playlist. on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Have you overlooked at a piece of abstract art or music or poetry and thought, that's just a bunch of pretentious nonsense? That's exactly what two bored Australian soldiers set out to prove during World War II when they tricked the literary world with their intentionally bad poetry, setting off a major scandal. We break down the truth, the lies, and the poetry in between on hoax, a new podcast hosted by me, Lizzie Logan, and me, Dana Schwartz. Every episode, Hoax explores an audacious fraud or ruse from history.

Listen to Hoax on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, guys, it's AZFud. You may know me as a gold medalist. You may know me as an NCAA national champion. You may even know me as a People's Princess. Every week on my new podcast, Fud around and find out. I'll be talking to some special guests about pop culture, basketball, and what it's like to be a professional athlete on and off the table. Listen to Fun Around and Find Out, a production of IHart Women's Sports in partnership with unanimous media on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I'm Bob Crawford, host of American History Hotline, a different type of podcast. You, the listener, ask the questions. Did George Washington really cut down a charity? Were JFK and Maryland Monroe having an affair? And I find the answers. I'm so glad you asked me this question. This is such a ridiculous story. You can listen to American History Hotline on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm a homegirl that knows a little bit about everything and everybody. You don't know if you're going to lie about that, right? Lauren came in hot.

Hey, y'all, what's up? It's Lauren Lerosa, and this is the latest with Lauren Lerosa. And I'm here. I'm in Atlanta. I'm here for the podcast summit and while I'm here I'm shooting at Bamboo Studios in downtown Atlanta it's fire in here

they have like four to five to six different sets that were able to accommodate us all the low riders and make sure that you guys got to see me and not just hear me today while here in Atlanta so shout out to them and we're going to get on into the latest and yeah here we go so first up in the news

this story is actually really really sad and normally I don't like to start on a sad note But Kelly Clarkson, huge name of music. I shouldn't have to explain who Kelly Clarkson is to you guys. But just in case you've been living under a rock, Kelly Clarkson, huge name of music. More recently, she's been a talk show host on the Kelly Clarkson show, which has been a big deal. Major guest, it's a talk show, it's daily. But there's been some absences.

And I think people made note of her being absent from the show over the last couple months because it was very rare for her to do so. She's been on air for some time and has been very consistent. But this week, tragically, we learned the reason behind all of her absences. So a few days ago, it literally was maybe 48 hours ago. Kelly Clarkson, out of the blue, came out and said, hey, I have this huge Vegas residency starting, but I have to postpone the start of it because her ex-husband, his name is Brandon Blackstock, was sick. And she wanted to make sure that her kids were good and everybody was good because he was dealing with whatever the sickness was.

So that was the announcement. That picked up because her residency, as any other Vegas residency, is huge deal. Fans have been waiting for some time for it. But then, not even 24 hours later, it was announced via People Magazine they broke the exclusive that Brandon had passed away. There was a family statement, actually, that was shared. It is with great sadness that we share the news that Brandon Blackstock has passed away. Brandon bravely battled cancer for more than three years. He passed away peacefully and was surrounded by his family.

We thank you for your thoughts and prayers, and we ask everyone to respect the family's privacy during this time. And Brandon was 48 years old. When this news broke, you know, I mean, not that there's anybody business and that she has to tell or, you know, talk about things. But I think people were really, really shocked because she had been holding it together and holding it down despite those absences for all of this time and no one knew. So TMZ did a story and they kind of gave a bit more information. They said that Blackstone of Brandon was fighting melanoma, melanoma cancer, which is a serious form of skin cancer. Now, TMZ was told that Brandon passed away the morning that the announcement was made. At the time that they did their story about 24 hours ago, it only happened a few hours ago.

The announcement had just been made as well. But what was revealed here was that he had actually been fighting. Brandon had been fighting the skin cancer for three and a half years. Now, like I mentioned to you guys, Kelly Clarkson had been absent on her show here and there. And it became a thing with fans because she was never really absent. So people were wondering what was going on. People actually thought that she was about to announce that she was leaving the show because they felt like, okay, she's not here all the time. The enthusiasm around the show is going down.

It's not as consistent. The Vegas residency is about to start. Maybe this is her saying, I don't really want to do the show anymore, leaning back into music or just, you know, living the life that she's been able to provide for herself. People couldn't really figure it out. Then this news broke. And from what TMZ was told by their source, the reason why Kelly had been absent all of that time was because of the sickness that Brandon was dealing with

and her having to step in and help out and also help out with their kids that they share together. Now, another thing that was revealed was that the Kelly Clarkson staff knew about this, which is a big deal. It shows the respect that the staff actually has for Kelly Clarkson, for her ex-husband, who also was her ex-manager at one point,

He was her manager at one point, no longer was a former manager at one point two, because the staff knew, but out of respect for Brandon and for Kelly Clarkson, they minded their business. And no stories broke, no anything until all of these things happened. And again, this all happened within a matter of like 24 hours, less than 48 hours. So TMZ was told everybody on the staff knew about the illness, but they kept them to themselves out of respect for Kelly and Brandon's privacy. Now, Kelly Clarkson and Brandon Blackstock met at a rehearsal for the Academy of Country Music. awards back in 2006. They didn't start dating until 2012 after they reconnected at the Super Bowl, and then they got engaged later in the year and were married in 2013. They shared two children together in Kelly Clarkson and Brandon at one point were the reason, or she would say that

their relationship and his encouragement was the reason that she even started the talk show. For a long time, there have been conversations, you know, when Kelly Clarkson decided to not do music as much as she was. She had been very vocal about trying to figure out like what was next for her and what she wanted to do and all the things. I think now we see, you know, artists sitting down on podcasts and doing these talk shows and it's normal. But when Kelly Clarkson started her show, it was like a breakout thing. It was something that was new for somebody in her space. It was the ratings were good. Still are. But I say that to say that he was a huge factor in her career in her life. So not only is she losing, you know, the father of her children and,

you know, a former colleague or ex-manager or however you want to title him. But I'm sure she attributes a lot of things that she's been able to do to him and his support. So I want to send some love and some prayers to her and just, you know, talk about like how crazy things can be and how unexpected things can happen. Because again, when I saw the announcement, I thought, okay, you know, they obviously have a really great co-parenting relationship. I had known about the fact that they used to work together like he was her manager at one point in time. So, So, you know, I thought it made sense for her to say, hey, I need to take a step back from my schedule and from work and hop in right now because we don't have the balance of the co-parenting partnership. And then I saw the story about his tragic passing.

I was like, man, I can't imagine how she feels. And then after all of this, like, it's announced and it's out there and it's news, now you become the topic. She's just talking about topics, but now you become the topic and you have to grieve and figure out life through all of that. It was also announced this morning that one of Brandon's daughters is actually expecting her second child in the midst of all of this too. So just in some love to that family because, I mean, just thinking and talking about it is very heavy, but imagine being in it and being a Kelly Clarkson in the midst of all of this. Now, switching gears a bit, want to head on over to an exclusive that we did. It was actually over on Breakfast Club. We did an exclusive sit-down with Tamar Braxton.

She was in L.A. It was the BET Awards Week. We did the media room with her. And when she came and she sat down, first of all, let me just say, I'm talking about somebody who doesn't hold back, who she's going to give you, Tamar Braxton is going to entertain, okay? She's going to give you a conversation worth of your money every single time. But her energy was so different at the media room. I met her at Breakfast Club.

And when she came on Breakfast Club, she talked about, you know, not even rebranding, but just been more aware of what she's saying, how she's saying it, how it affects people and all of the things, because Tamar Braxton has a reputation of all of the Braxton sisters of being almost like the problem, y'all, like the one who is always in the media, who always has something going on and, you know, all the things and all the drama. But now it seems like she wants to step away from that and really focus on, you know, she has shows that she's on, she has her cooking show, she's also producing shows as well, too.

Music is there for her as well. She just doesn't want that to be to send her the conversation. So fast forward to me running. into her at the media room. This was, you know, a moment because she comes on and first thing I can think of is Big Back Cadillac. If you

don't know why I thought a Big Back Cadillac, take a listen to Tamar Braxton and her sit down with any leaks when she's talking about her former co-host, Lonnie Love. I remember talking to Tamer. I remember talking to you and you said this to me, like, they had casted all of you guys and you were like, we're all going out to them. I believe all of y'all went to like,

Mr. Chow! Because Vince. Yeah, y'all all went together to Mr. Chattah, kind of like, you know, just make sure that you guys were friends and sisters and you guys had the same vision and all that. You produced on there as well. I did. Wow. In creating the show, that's why I'm saying. I wish she would have told me that because I wouldn't have cast a Big Bad Cadillac. Red, I can't stay in your laugh.

And that's no shade. So, Tamar, Big Back Cadillac. How did it gets so big? I don't even know how you respond to that. Somebody called me a Big Back Cadillac. We got a lot of problems, okay? We got big problems, not compact car problems, all right? But I'm going to say, Tamar, her energy about this moment when I talked to her was very

much like, okay, I said it, he, he, ha, ha, but can we please move on? She actually apologized, which I didn't expect. I expected her to kind of take onus for like, maybe that wasn't the right thing to say or the right way to describe a person in their figure. But I did not expect her to apologize. It was a big, a big grown-up step for her. Let's take a listen to the apology. That is an interview that I'm not so proud of

because it was a lot of girlfriend kitchen talk, you know. Okay, so imagine being at a bar with your girlfriend that you haven't seen in a long time and y'all have cocktails and y'all just start talking about stuff, right? That was that interview. Got you. But, I mean, Nant-A-Mart, but you know, when you say something, But I forget, you know, and especially when I'm in a comfortable setting, you know what I'm saying?

And then there's cocktails involved. It gets very free flowing. Now, this apology went everywhere. It circulated everywhere. It was like, you know, she addressed it head on. It was her first time addressing it head on. And even then she was saying in the interview, like, I'm going ahead and say this. Like, I'm going to give you this because I want to be done with it once I leave here.

But it picked up so big. She did have to talk about it a couple other places. but what I realized from that moment and watching her talk about it with me and the place that she went to is that Tamar is really trying to grow up. I mean, she's grown. She's grown as hell.

So I mean, grew up in a sense of, like, mature and just, you know, watch her words type of thing. But Lonnie Love had never responded to this whatsoever. And Lonnie Love sat down with Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live, baby. And if you know Andy Cohen, you know he's going to start potter two or three. He tried, but Lonnie didn't really give him much. Let's take a listen.

Lonnie, want to hear the number one question. for you. Oh, what is it? Denzel M. said, do you accept Tamar's public apology towards you, and are you interested in having a conversation with her to bury the beef? I have no beef. That's what I want people to understand. There is no beef.

It's a one-sided thing. It's like, you know, and my thing is you know what, when all that went down, y'all, I was in Iceland. I didn't know what was going on. Okay. You know, and so I didn't know anything and then I got all this information and I'm like, you know what? People wanted me to

I'm like, I never respond. Andrew, you know me. I never respond to this. I use my platform to entertain and form and inspire, not to do beefs. If I was on your show, though, I would because I'd be like... Oh, can we cast her? Yeah, y'all, so I think the beef is done. I think it's over.

I don't know, though, because, I mean, this has been going on for so long. For those of you guys who don't know the background, when Tamar Braxton was on The Real, there was a lot of conversations. around her departure from the real. There were issues that were reported between her and the other women. And, you know, and Tamar, on that sit down when any leaks came out and talked about what her issue was, the fact that, you know, she was one of the producers for the show. I didn't know that.

I had no idea that Tamar was even involved that much in the real. It seemed like they plopped her in just to be the villain or the bad guy of the show. And then it seemed like that got heavy for her, which I get. Like, sitting in a space on a show like that people watch. and they listen to for opinion, anytime a moment happens where you have to be the person that, like, you're asking something that people don't want to ask or you're sharing an opinion or people just sometimes just don't like you.

It's something that you, I think you learn how to deal with, but it's not a normal thing to have people just throwing comments and opinions and all that at you repeatedly. So imagine being a Tamar Braxton, you know, from the legendary Braxton family who's already had this history of, like, you know, a drama and people feeling like she's the issue. and then they put you on the show and they narrate you

and they produce you as the issue or the villain or the bad guy on the show and then you leave. It looked like she kind of couldn't handle the smoke and she didn't want to see anymore. But come to find out from this conversation when he leaked that her real issue

was the way things were happening and not even just on camera, that was an issue. But behind the scenes as well, she poured a lot into that show and felt like she wasn't getting much back and I'm not mad at her. I'm not mad at her at all

for her decisions two step all. But I gave you guys, all that background because that was so long ago. This Lonnie Love-Tamard Braxton situation happened so long ago. So it's like, I'm so glad that the ladies have gotten to a point where they're like, look, I ain't got no beef. We're moving on. You know, where the lemon drops at?

Like, it's not even that deep anymore. But at the same time, one wrong comment, one wrong SUV body change, and we back in the beginning of where we were. That's the latest, y'all. Thank you guys for tuning in to the latest with Lauren LaRosa. this has been another episode and I tell you guys every single episode

that at the end of the day you guys could be anywhere with anybody talking about all of these things but y'all, my lowriders, all, I think we're at 2 million of you guys now. All of you guys

choose to be right here with me every episode and I appreciate it so much I'm gonna let y'all know when a merch come. I got y'all. The stuff you should know guys have made their own summer playlist of their muscles

and podcasts on movies. It's me, Josh, and I'd like to welcome you to the Stuff You Should Know Summer Movie Playlist. What Screams Summer? More than a nice, darkened, air-conditioned theater, and a great movie playing right in front of you. Episodes on James Bond, special effects, stunt men and women, disaster films, even movies that change filmmaking, and many more.

Listen to the Stuff You Should Know Summer Movie playlist on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Hey, guys, it's AZ Fudd. You may know me as a gold medalist. You may know me as an NCAA national champion. You may even know me as the People's Princess. Every week on my new podcast, Fud Around and Find Out, I'll be talking to some special guests about pop culture, basketball,

and what it's like to be a professional athlete on and off the court. Listen to Fud Around and Find Out, a production of IHeart Women's Sports in partnership with unanimous media on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. In 1920, a magazine article announced something. incredible. Two young girls had photographed real fairies. But even more incredible, that article was written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the man who invented Sherlock Holmes. How did he fall for that? Hoax is a new podcast for me, Dana Schwartz, the host of Noble Blood. And me, Lizzie Logan. Every episode

we'll explore one of the most audacious and ambitious tricks in history and try to answer the question why we believe, what we believe. Listen to hoax on the IHeart Radio. app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Bob Crawford, host of American History Hotline, a different type of podcast. You, the listener, ask the questions. Did George Washington really cut down a cherry? Were JFK and Marilyn Monroe having an affair? And I find the answers.

I'm so glad you asked me this question. This is such a ridiculous story. You can listen to American History Hotline on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast.