Source : PERTHNOW NEWS
Kelly Clarkson has swearily revealed why she has banned her children from watching her notorious movie debut From Justin to Kelly.
The 44-year-old singer revisited the critically panned 2003 musical during the final night of her Studio Sessions Las Vegas residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace on Saturday (15.08.26), bluntly telling fans more than two decades after its release: “It’s s***.”
Kelly made From Justin to Kelly with fellow American Idol contestant Justin Guarini immediately after becoming the talent show’s inaugural winner, but told the audience appearing in the film had been a contractual obligation.
After spotting a fan wearing an Etsy-made shirt inspired by the movie, Kelly joked: “Well, it’s an Oscar-worthy number, and it’s called From Justin to Kelly.”
She added: “Two words: Contractually obligated.”
As she said “obligated”, Kelly raised her middle finger towards the audience.
The musical comedy starred Kelly and Justin as college students who meet during spring break in Florida and was released less than a year after Kelly defeated Justin in the first American Idol final.
When an audience member at Caesars Palace attempted to praise the film, Kelly replied: “It’s not, you’re watching it with loving eyes. It’s s***.”
Kelly said she had not realised winning American Idol would require her to make a movie and recalled her reaction to discovering what she had agreed to.
She said: “Man, read the f****** fine print, you know.”
Kelly added: “I didn’t know that if you won, you had to do a movie. Not all of us want to be Meryl Streep, we just like watching her, OK? I was like, ‘I don’t want to be in a movie’, but they were like, ‘Yeah, but you won’. And I was like, ‘And I feel like I’m losing? It doesn’t feel quite like a win’.”
Kelly said the experience also increased her respect for professional actors.
Referring to her daytime series The Kelly Clarkson Show, which ended this year after seven seasons, she said: “I respect actors so much because that’s what they do, even after (hosting) a talk show. It’s insane, like, how much rejection they get. They keep going, and it’s just insane. It’s such a cool thing I love, it was not what I wanted to do.”
The singer said she enjoyed the movie’s dance sequences but has no intention of letting daughter River Rose, 12, and son Remington, 10, see the finished product.
Kelly said: “It is funny though, like, my kids, I’ve banned them from watching.”
Recalling her nanny admitting she enjoyed the film, Kelly added she responded: “And I judge you – all day, all night. I’m just kidding.”
Kelly had River and Remington with her former husband Brandon Blackstock, who was 48 when he died from cancer in 2025.
Despite her verdict on the movie, Kelly said she retained positive memories of working on its music with Tommy Sims.
She said: “The music part, that was fun. See? You gotta find the positive, motherfers, you know? Turn that s into lemonade… and cry yourself to sleep.”
From Justin to Kelly came at the beginning of a career that subsequently brought Kelly three Grammy Awards and hits including Since U Been Gone, Because of You, Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You), Breakaway and My Life Would Suck Without You.
Her August 15 performance marked the conclusion of Kelly Clarkson: Studio Sessions, her second Las Vegas residency, which began in 2025 and returned for rescheduled performances this summer.
The final shows have also produced several characteristically candid moments from Kelly, including an incident earlier this month when wind lifted her sheer top on stage and she joked to the audience: “Uh oh, there’s my boobs.”
