Kelly Clarkson, the Grammy Award-winning singer and judge of NBC’s “The Voice,” is speaking out after a bombshell report depicting a hostile, “toxic” staff environment at her namesake talk show, “The Kelly Clarkson Show.”
In the report, which was originally published by Rolling Stone last week, former employees allege they were overworked and underpaid, calling the environment “traumatizing to their mental health” and noted that Clarkson “was clueless” about everything that went on behind closed doors.
The news rattled fans and, it appears, Clarkson herself.
“Kelly [Clarkson] is fantastic. She is a person who never treats anyone with anything but dignity and is incredibly appreciative,” one former employee of the show, who chose to remain anonymous, told the outlet. “I would be shocked if she knew. I’d be floored if she knew the staff wasn’t getting paid for two weeks of Christmas hiatus. The Kelly that I interacted with and that everyone knows would probably be pretty aghast to learn that.”
Other anonymous employees blamed higher management and executive producer Alex Duda for allegedly fostering an environment that had direct detriments to employees’ mental health.
“It deterred me from wanting to work in daytime ever again,” one employee said frankly. “When I say I was traumatized, I was really traumatized … [It was] by far the worst experience I’ve ever had in my entire life.”
Clarkson responded swiftly to the accusations on her personal social media accounts in a series of notes on Instagram to her 6.6 million followers.
“I’ve always led with my heart and what I believe to be right,” Clarkson wrote about her show which first aired in 2019. “To find out that anyone is feeling unheard and or disrespected on this show is unacceptable.”
Clarkson went on to disclose that the show will be moving its filming location to the East Coast from the Universal Studios Lot in California. The next season of the show is set to film at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City.
She went on to say that senior staff, including herself, will undergo leadership training and made clear that “any notion of toxicity will be eradicated.”
“I am more committed than ever to making sure that not only our team that is moving but also our new team in NY, is compromised of the best and kindest in the business,” she penned.
Clarkson’s post had received over 289,619 likes as of Monday afternoon.
“The Kelly Clarkson Show” was recently renewed through 2025. The show is currently on hiatus due to ongoing strikes organized by the Writers’ Guild of America.
The show has won 13 Daytime Emmy Awards to date. Clarkson’s net worth is an estimated $45 million.
This story originally appeared on Entrepreneur
