Apr 21, 2010 at 03:49 PM
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Kelly Clarkson Responds to Sponsorship Controversy, Show Will Go On

American Idol star Kelly Clarkson responded in her blog today to the blogosphere's uproar over her upcoming performance in Jakarta, which will be sponsored by cigarette company, L.A. Lights. Calling it a "lose-lose situation," Clarkson says she won't cancel the date despite in "no way [being] an advocate for youth smoking."


Here's her full statement:

So ….my morning began with finding out that I am all over billboards, tv ads, and other media formats along side a tobacco company who unbeknownst to me is sponsoring my Jakarta date on my current tour. I was not made aware of this and am in no way an advocate or an ambassador for youth smoking. I’m not even a smoker, nor have I ever been. Unfortunately, my only option at this point was to cancel the show in order to stop the sponsorship. However, I can’t justify penalizing my fans for someone else’s oversight. This is a lose-lose situation for me and I am not happy about it but the damage has been done and I refuse to cancel on my fans. I think the hardest part of situations like this is getting personally attacked for something I was completely unaware of and being used as some kind of political pawn.

Kelly