Kelly Clarkson has long cemented herself as a pop music icon since the day she won American Idol in 2002. But the Grammy-winning singer left even Jenna Bush Hager shocked when she revealed that she’s had to deal with a fair share of negative comments and unsolicited opinions about her appearance over the years.

The “Since You’ve Been Gone” singer opened up about it during a recent visit to Today With Jenna & Friends where she revealed that her sexy new music video for her single “Where Have You Been” was partially inspired by her desire to fight back against the things that have been said about her over the years.

Today guest host Matt Rogers pointed out the noticeably sexier creative direction hen he and Bush Hager sat down with Clarkson Tuesday (May 6).

“Ma’am, this is your sexiest video you’ve ever done!” he said.

Clarkson was clearly flattered as she clued Bush Hager and Rogers into her creative approach for the video. “Look, I lost some weight and I was like, ‘You put me in something fitting because I don’t know how long this will last!’” she said.

When Rogers asked if it was “a conscious decision” on her part to take the music video in that direction, Clarkson candidly responded, “In all honesty, I’ve had a lot of people always in my career be very cruel [and say], ‘Oh, you look slutty if you wear this.’”

Bush Hager gasped out loud in disbelief. “What?!” she said.

Clarkson continued, “Oh, I’ve had people be very cruel.”

She added, “And so it’s like, I’ve never been able to just be what I want for that moment, for that song, what that character calls for, because they’re all different characters. So, this was a very sexy moment.”

Clarkson previously revealed that she used to refuse to wear makeup when she was competing on American Idol, earning herself some enemies behind the scenes.

“One producer in particular, very high up, was not a fan of me just because I didn’t play that game,” she said. “And it wasn’t even playing a game. The other four girls that season were very into that stuff. They were very into it.”

Today with Jenna & Friends airs on weekdays at 10/9c on NBC.