The early days of the 2025 TV schedule saw a lot of hiccups when it came to The Kelly Clarkson Show, with the superstar host unexpectedly missing a number of episodes in March (as the Emmy-winning series was on the cusp of celebrating 1,000 episodes) and April. That led to talk of trouble behind the scenes, and now there are more rumors surrounding her shocking decision to cancel the first two shows of her Las Vegas residency over July 4 weekend, less than two hours before Friday’s concert was set to begin. Reports are now coming out about the surprising way that employees allegedly found out those shows would not go on.
What’s Being Said About How Employees At Kelly Clarkson’s Vegas Residency Heard About Cancellations?
The U.S. Sun spoke with an insider close to the situation surrounding Kelly Clarkson delaying the beginning of her Vegas residency (titled Studio Sessions), which is set up at Caesar’s Palace. Apparently, those who worked for weeks to make sure the production would go off without a hitch were left just as stunned at the “Since U Been Gone” singer’s fans. About what took place on July 4, they said:
Everyone working behind the scenes was in complete shock. They woke up Friday expecting a normal day of work and began their day like always. It wasn’t until hours into the work day everyone was told the news. A lot of the crew found out on social media which is utterly disrespectful.
it felt like the singer “could bolt at any time” because she was supposedly becoming unhappy with the show’s schedule being so “grueling” and not allowing enough time to spend with her kids and “down South.”
The Studio Sessions insider continued, and opened up about the impact on the fans, seeing as how many were already lined up outside, because word came about the cancellation roughly 10 minutes before doors were set to open:
The crew was setting up like normal and bam, it hit. Fans crying about wasting thousands of dollars, fans who flew from outside of the country to see Kelly for the first time. She doesn’t realize the depth of how much she let people down and most of them were crying [that] they can’t afford to come back another weekend.
Clarkson isn’t the first performer to bail on a residency so late in the game. In 2022, Adele made international headlines for postponing the opening of her Vegas residency about 24 hours beforehand. Clearly, this would leave a bad taste in the mouth of anyone who’d traveled to the city and then couldn’t alter flights/hotel reservations or get their money back. Those close to the Clarkson situation are claiming that the Grammy winner isn’t simply concerned about her voice, but that actually “she’s not okay” right now because of “hitting a wall” with “everything catching up to her.” The residency insider added:
Everyone has been showing up every day to do their job and put on a good show. Now we just need Kelly to show up.
Hopefully, Clarkson will be able to go on as planned with her concerts this weekend and the time off will help alleviate whatever pressures she might be feeling.