Kelly Clarkson wasted no time taking Recording Academy president Neil Portnow to task in January after he infamously urged women to "step up" if they wanted to be more routinely recognized at the Grammy Awards (Clarkson boldly noted in a tweet: "A confused soul said women need 2 ‘step up' their A-game if they wanna start winning & u know what I'm not even mad at ignorance. I'm just gonna kindly point u n the direction of my A-game album I recently dropped #MeaningOfLife #UrWelcome.")

Still, the comment made Clarkson look at her own practices in the industry, and the 2018 Billboard Music Awards host told Billboard she's sadly never even worked with a female producer.

"That was obviously a turd comment," she said of Portnow's remarks. "There are just so many other things he could have said that would have gotten his point across, and he chose poorly. But I get that we all speak poorly sometimes. It sounds so sad, but I’ve been working for 16 years and I’ve never had a female producer. And I had never thought about it until he made that comment. Let’s take the negative and turn it into a positive: It became a conversation."

And Clarkson said there are a few women in particular who are, indeed, stepping up in 2018.

"I’m obsessed with Cardi B’s [Invasion of Privacy]. And Kacey Musgraves’ new album [Golden Hour]," she said. "That is why I am excited about hosting. I love being able to say, 'I think you’re super rad.' Maybe I will make my whole opening stage-five clinger and talk about how much I love everyone.”

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