• Howard Stern finds Clive Davis' comments on Kelly Clarkson 'sickening'

    Louis Lanzano / AP file

    Howard Stern

    By Us Weekly

    Howard Stern is adding his voice to the very public, very messy back-and-forth between Kelly Clarkson and Clive Davis. The radio shock jock, who is known more often for slamming celebrities than defending them, took a surprisingly sympathetic stance toward the "American Idol" alum's accusations that Davis had "bullied" her during their collaborations -- and mischaracterized her in his memoir, "The Soundtrack of My Life."

    "I always find it sickening when management guys like to set the record straight about how f--king creative and what geniuses they are," Stern said on his show on Wednesday, Feb. 20. "And, like, this guy's trying to diminish what she does? Doesn't he have enough in life? Can't he sort of tell his story without f--king degrading her and putting her down?"

    PHOTOS: Shocking celeb feuds

    Earlier this week, Clarkson, 30, took to her blog to slam what she called Davis' "memory lapses and misinformation."


    "First, he says I burst into 'hysterical sobbing' in his office when he demanded 'Since U Been Gone' be on my album. Not true at all," she wrote of her 2004 album "Breakaway." "I cried because he hated ["Because of You"] and told me verbatim that I was a 's--tty writer who should be grateful for the gifts that he bestows upon me.'" 

    The legendary 80-year-old record producer defended the details of his memoir, though he did own up to "a few creative differences' in their years working together.

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    "As anyone who has read 'The Soundtrack of My Life' knows, I think Kelly Clarkson is a tremendous vocal talent and performer," he wrote on Twitter one day later, on Wednesday, Feb. 20. "In the book, I provide an in-depth look at our years together during which we shared major multi-platinum success, as well as a few creative differences. I am truly very sorry that she has decided to take issue with what I know to be an accurate depiction of our time together."

    Stern's comments Wednesday similarly praised Clarkson's vocal prowess, though he too saw Davis' memoir as a knock on the "Stronger" singer's talents.

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    "I think she has an amazing voice, and the girl has worked hard to get to where she is," he said. "I don't understand Clive Davis' motivation for knocking this chick down."

    The 59-year-old radio host is no stranger to controversy himself, having come under fire earlier this year after calling 'Girls' creator Lena Dunham a "little fat girl" and likening the HBO show's sex scenes to "rape" -- he offered Dunham an on-air apology a few days later.

    "It makes me feel bad, and I think she is getting the impression that I somehow think she's just a talentless little fat chick," he said.

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  • Clive Davis fires back after Kelly Clarkson slam

    By Drusilla Moorhouse, TODAY contributor

    Thanks to Kelly Clarkson, the soundtrack to Clive Davis' life is more discord than harmony these days.

    With the release this week of his memoir, "The Soundtrack of My Life," the legendary music mogul made headlines for revealing, among other things, that he is bisexual and clashed with his "American Idol" protégé.

    Davis claims in the tell-all that Clarkson "burst into hysterical sobbing" after first hearing her hit songs "Since U Been Gone" and "Behind These Hazel Eyes" and fought to cut them from her 2004 album, "Breakaway."

    "It was a very tough conversation, and it didn't get any easier when Kelly burst into hysterical sobbing," he writes. "We all just sat there and she cried for a several minutes."

    Clarkson -- who recently earned rave reviews for her not-lip-synched performance  of "My Country 'Tis of Thee" at the recent presidential inauguration -- remembers their dispute very differently, and slammed the record producer Tuesday for "spreading false information" about her and her music.

    "I refuse to be bullied and I just have to clear up his memory lapses and misinformation for myself and for my fans," she wrote on WhoSay.

    "It feels like a violation. Growing up is awesome because you learn you don't have to cower to anyone -- even Clive Davis."

    Clarkson acknowledged that she "did cry in his office once," but it was in response to his censure of her autobiographical song "Because of You."

    "I cried because he hated it and told me verbatim that I was a 's----- writer who should be grateful for the gifts that he bestows upon me.' … This was devastating coming from a man who I, as a young girl, considered a musical hero and was so honored to work with."


    "(He) belittled me and my music and completely sabotaged ('My December')," she added about Davis' response to her third album.

    "It never had a chance to reach (its) full potential ... the fact that I was so completely disregarded and disrespected was so disheartening," she wrote.

    Davis fired back Tuesday, insisting that he told the truth in his account of their "creative differences":

    "I am truly very sorry that she has decided to take issue with what I know to be an accurate depiction of our time together," he tweeted. "Before the book was published, I had every fact checked with five independent individuals who were present on a daily basis throughout it all. The chapter as it is written was thoroughly verified by each and every one of them. I stand by the chapter as written in my book."

    Still, the 80-year-old music executive continued to praise Clarkson as a "tremendous vocal talent and performer."  

    "I wish, and will always wish, Kelly's talent and her career to soar to ever new heights," he concluded.

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  • Clive Davis comes out as bisexual in new memoir

    Dan Hallman / AP

    By David Browne, Rolling Stone

    Clive Davis' new memoir, "The Soundtrack of My Life," is full of inside stories from throughout his famed career. But the biggest revelation is a personal one: For the first time, the 80-year-old record executive discusses his "bisexual life."

    Davis, who has been married and divorced twice, has never before publicly addressed his sexuality. In a candid five-page section toward the end of the book, due in stores today, he writes that he first had a sexual encounter with a man during "the era of Studio 54." "On this night, after imbibing enough alcohol, I was open to responding to his sexual overtures," writes Davis. Being with a man, he writes, provided "welcome relief."

    After a period of "soul searching and self-analysis," Davis separated from his second wife in 1985, and says that he went on to have simultaneous relationships with two women and a man. In 1990, he entered into a "monogamous relationship" with a male doctor, who is not named in the book. Although that relationship ended in 2004, Davis says he has been in a subsequent relationship with another man ever since. Davis writes that his coming out deeply affected his ties with one of his sons, Mitchell: After what Davis calls "one very trying year," father and son worked out their differences, Davis says.

    The bulk of Davis' book – an overdue sequel to his now out-of-print 1975 memoir "Clive: Inside the Record Business" – is devoted to his interactions with a wide range of artists over nearly five decades. He recounts his early years with Columbia Records, some of which had been detailed in the previous book.

    In one particularly memorable scene, Davis attempts to talk Bob Dylan out of naming his 1969 album "Nashville Skyline ("It was not in any literal sense a country album"). He also relates how he told Bruce Springsteen's then-manager, Mike Appel, that 1973's "Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J." needed a few more radio-friendly songs – which resulted in Springsteen adding "Blinded by the Light" and "Spirit in the Night" to the finished record.

    Aretha Franklin to reunite with Clive Davis for next album

    "The Soundtrack of My Life" (co-written with Rolling Stone contributing editor Anthony DeCurtis) covers Davis' post-1975 career as founder of Arista and J Records in great detail. Not unexpectedly, Davis devotes an entire chapter to his work with Whitney Houston. He recounts their early collaborations and his trepidations about her acting in "The Bodyguard." But he also writes in-depth about the subsequent problems that led to her death. He reprints a letter he wrote to her after seeing an emaciated Houston perform at the 2001 Michael Jackson tribute concert ("When I got home, I cried," he tells her) and reveals a one-on-one intervention with her that he attempted at his Pound Ridge, New York, home. (Houston, he writes, was in "complete denial" about her excesses.) And he recounts the shock of getting that momentous phone call, just before his annual pre-Grammy party, that Houston was dead.


    Davis also goes in-depth on his clash with Kelly Clarkson and her management prior to the release of 2007's "My December" – he recruited focus groups to offer opinions on a batch of the album's songs, with very negative results – and his surprise at learning that Rob and Fab didn't actually sing on the Milli Vanilli album. ("People thought I was in on this elaborate scheme," he writes.) Davis also offers up his own account of the 1999 meeting in which he was bounced out of his job at Arista, which ultimately led to the launch of his last label, J Records, and its biggest star, Alicia Keys.

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