While Kelly Clarkson<\/strong><\/a> refused to name an A-list star who was allegedly \u201cmean\u201d and \u201ccruel\u201d to her early on in her career, an entertainment reporter claimed it was former The Voice<\/em><\/a> coach Christina Aguilera<\/strong><\/a> who was the hater.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was Christina. She was openly dismissive of Kelly from day one \u2014 she didn\u2019t think a reality show winner belonged in the big leagues,\u201d Rob Shuter<\/strong> wrote in his Substack<\/a> account on Sunday, March 30. He posted a teaser to his Instagram account but disabled the comments.<\/p>\n Kelly, 42, made the revelation that she had a celebrity hater during an appearance on Kylie Kelce<\/strong>\u2018s \u201cNot Gonna Li<\/a>e\u201d podcast on March 27.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople were really mean. People that were really mean have been coaches,\u201d she said about life after her American Idol<\/em><\/a> season 1 win in September 2002.<\/p>\n \u201cThey hated talent shows \u2014 and they ended up being on The Voice<\/em>,\u201d Kelly continued, giving a much more detailed hint about who it could have been by mentioning the NBC singing competition.<\/p>\n Christina, 44, ended up becoming one of the original four coaches on The Voice<\/em> when it premiered in 2011, nine years after Kelly won American Idol. She appeared on the next two seasons before taking intermittent breaks for her music career. Christina returned to The Voice<\/em> as a coach for seasons 5, 8 and 10.<\/p>\n Kelly explained how groundbreaking American Idol<\/em> was and that it was hard to be taken seriously as the first winner. However, after the show became a ratings smash, other competition shows like The Voice<\/em> made established singers accept the musical talents of people who came from reality shows.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople were really cruel at first. They didn\u2019t like it,\u201d the \u201cLove So Soft\u201d singer said during the podcast. \u201cIt took the industry kind of by storm, the talent shows. It was a very unlikable thing in the industry concerning the populous. Now there\u2019s so many.\u201d<\/p>\n The Grammy winner added that the pressure of performing live weekly and being judged by a nationwide audience was something that established artists would not be able to understand.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople like us who have been there in that audition process, and just being so judged instantaneously, on maybe not your best performance but you know you can do better. It\u2019s a grueling thing,\u201d Kelly said of competing on American Idol.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s unforgiving in a lot of ways, and a lot of pressure for these artists that I don\u2019t think a lot of artists that sell tons of records would be able to handle. It\u2019s a different thing,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n Kelly\u2019s first post-Idol<\/em> breakout hit was 2003\u2019s \u201cMiss Independent,\u201d which Christina cowrote.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.lifeandstylemag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/The-A-Lister-Who-Was-Mean-to-Kelly-Clarkson-Early-in-Her-Career-Revealed-4.jpg?fit=400%2C500&quality=86&strip=all\")
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