'The Voice' coach who was mean about Kelly Clarkson's 'American Idol' win is revealed to be A-lister

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Jaws dropped when Kelly Clarkson claimed that one of 'The Voice' judges was straight-up "mean" to her in the early days of her career—but she didn't reveal exactly who it was.

The 'Since U Been Gone' singer dropped the bombshell during her chat on Kylie Kelce’s 'Not Gonna Lie' podcast last week, where she got real about how some industry stars treated her after she skyrocketed to fame as the first-ever 'American Idol' winner back in 2002.

Speculation around who shaded Kelly Clarkson

“People were really mean. People that were really mean have been coaches. They hated talent shows — and they ended up being on The Voice,” Kelly dished.

“People were really cruel at first. They didn’t like it,” she added. “It took the industry kind of by storm, the talent shows. It was a very unlikable thing in the industry concerning the populous. Now there’s so many.”

Kelly didn’t name names—but that didn’t stop fans from speculating. According to celebrity journalist Rob Shuter, however, the “mean” culprit was Christina Aguilera, The Sun reported.

Shuter spilled the tea on his Substack, claiming inside sources confirmed that the 'Dirrty' singer wasn’t exactly rolling out the red carpet for Kelly back in the day.

“It was Christina. She was openly dismissive of Kelly from day one — she didn’t think a reality show winner belonged in the big leagues,” his source claimed.

Kelly Clarkson and Christina Aguilera’s complicated history

If this is true, it makes their past collaboration all the more interesting. It's worth noting that Christina Aguilera had a hand in one of Kelly Clarkson’s earliest hits—2003’s 'Miss Independent'.

The banger was originally meant for Christina’s 'Stripped' album. But somehow, it ended up in Kelly’s hands and she gave it her own spin.

Reflecting on the song’s impact, Kelly told Today, “Everybody wanted me to do ballads straight off of [American] Idol. I was like, ‘No, I really like this song. I want to set up some kind of precedent.’ It was very important to me as an artist, and I got to write on it as well, which was important to me.”

But neither Christina nor Kelly knew about the switch at the time. “My label at the time didn’t tell me but I guess the producers and writers started it with her but then it wasn’t finished so I ended up writing the rest and finishing it without even knowing she was on it or ever a part of it,” Kelly revealed on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.

And when she finally found out, it was rather awkward. “I swear to God, I got my album booklet and I was like, ‘Oh my God, my first album,’ and then I was like, ‘Why is Christina Aguilera on it? That’s weird?’ And I love her, so I’m like, ‘Cool… but what?’ It was a weird thing,” she added.

Where do they stand now?

Fast forward to 'The Voice' era, Christina Clarkson and Kelly Clarkson both had their turns in the judge’s chair—albeit never at the same time.

Christina was one of the first judges on the show, appearing in seasons 1-3 and then popping back in for seasons 5, 8, and 10 before ultimately stepping away to focus on her music. Kelly, on the other hand, didn’t join until season 14, staying on until season 22 before taking a short break and then returning for season 23.

But despite all the past drama, the two have shared plenty of love in public over the years. Christina has made multiple appearances on 'The Kelly Clarkson Show', and Kelly has often paid tribute to Christina’s music in her performances.

In fact, during her "Kellyoke" sessions, she’s belted out some of Christina’s biggest hits, including 'Beautiful', 'Fighter', and 'Say Something'.