When Kelly Clarkson filed for divorce from Brandon Blackstock in June, I first thought it was yet another pandemic-split. Then there was a small flurry of rumor-mongering that perhaps the split wasn’t solely pandemic-related, especially given that there are some indications that Brandon is a big cheater. But Kelly has a super-wholesome image and a talk show, so of course all of the off-side rumors came to a halt pretty quickly. For months, Kelly has been keeping it civil publicly. But it feels like some stuff is starting to come out about how this divorce isn’t all sunshine and amicable relations. An LA court just gave Kelly the primary physical custody of her two children with Blackstock, River Rose, 6, and Remington Alexander, 4. The court said she’s the one providing stability and the court noted that Kelly and Brandon are having a lot of co-parenting problems at the moment. Which led to this dishy piece in People:

Kelly Clarkson’s ex-husband Brandon Blackstock is looking for a hefty amount of spousal and child support. The music manager, 43, is seeking $436,000 in monthly spousal and child support after an L.A. County judge granted Clarkson primary physical custody of their children River Rose, 6, and Remington Alexander, 4, a source tells PEOPLE.

“Brandon’s been equally unreasonable in his requests for child and spousal support, as well as attorney fees,” the source says. “Kelly’s offered to pay for all the kids’ expenses, but Brandon seems to think he is entitled to and needs $301K in spousal support and $135K in child support per month.” If Blackstock’s request remains, he’d receive more than $5.2 million per year.

“Additionally, he’s already asked for $2M for attorney fees when he’s the one driving up the cost of the divorce with seven attorneys just representing him alone,” the source adds.

A source close to the family also tells PEOPLE that Clarkson is “pleased” by the custody ruling and that her priority is to protect her children. “As Kelly has said, her first priority in all of this is to take care of the kids and all the hearts that are involved in this divorce,” the second source says. “It’s been a hard time for everyone, but Kelly’s pleased with the court’s ruling regarding custody. Divorce is hard and it gets tense for most couples going through it. But Kelly’s primary focus is on doing the best she can to protect the kids. In this case, she had to fight for them since Brandon and his attorneys were making unreasonable requests.”

The source explains that Blackstock wanted the children to go “back and forth” from Los Angeles to Montana or reside in Montana even though L.A. has “undeniably been their home base.” In late October, the court found that the children “have not resided in Montana” and instead Blackstock must travel to L.A. to see the children at Clarkson’s Woodvale residence for “visitation and parenting time.” PEOPLE accessed the court documents on Monday.

[From People]

Here’s the thing: Kelly was doing Brandon a huge favor by keeping their divorce bullsh-t out of the press for MONTHS. Even if Brandon thinks he has a good case, Kelly is pretty firmly in “America’s sweetheart” territory and People Magazine is clearly on her side, and actively helping her get out her side. I feel like Kelly wouldn’t have authorized this sympathetic piece unless she was really aggravated with Brandon at the moment. As well she should be – he’s trying to get her money, even though she now has primary custody (and he’ll have to travel to see the kids). Nope! Air all of his dirty laundry, Kelly! Also: dude has seven lawyers?!?!

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.