Kelly Clarkson’s feud with a Brooklyn shop over a mechanical bird just got a lot more expensive — $15 million more, to be precise.
Adam Rubin, the co-owner of Art of Play, chose to put the shop’s automated bird, “Molly,” up for sale for a whopping $15 million US amid the shop’s ongoing viral feud with the pop star, according to USA Today.
The listing in the store now reads: “Molly. Designed and created by Bliss Kolb. The world’s most famous singing bird automata! $15,000,000.”
Rubin also told USA Today he’d give each shop employee $15,000 US and pay Kolb $1 million US if someone bought the bird. He said he’d use the rest of the money to buy other antique automata.
CBC News has reached out to Art of Play for confirmation but has not heard back.
It’s the latest turn in a saga that has taken over the internet. It’s also a dramatic increase from the $15,000 US price tag Clarkson says she saw when she stopped by the store on Oct. 10.
‘Kelly Clarkson has put us in danger’: shop owner
The shop owner spoke to several outlets at the Art of Play on Tuesday, saying the store has seen a large increase in foot traffic because of the publicity, but has also received a torrent of backlash from fans of the pop star.
“Kelly Clarkson has put us in danger,” Rubin said. “We’re concerned on behalf of our shopkeepers.”
Clarkson’s viral shopping experience can now be seen in footage obtained by independent journalist Pablo Torre on Tuesday, Oct. 13.
The four-minute, 50-second clip does not include audio. In it, Clarkson appears to enter the store wearing a baseball cap and a yellow T-shirt. She browses the store and appears to approach a clerk, who says something to her before walking away.
Later on in the video, Clarkson appears to put the items she had in her hands back on the shelves and speak to the person at the cash register before leaving the store.
How we got here
The online spat started on Saturday, when the singer posted that she visited the shop to buy “a few things,” but “was looked at as if I couldn’t afford it.”
“But y’all should go check out Art of Play in Brooklyn if you enjoy being treated like Julia Roberts’ character in Pretty Woman,” she wrote.
For context, Robert’s character in the film is famously treated rudely by a snooty saleswoman in a boutique.
The store replied Sunday, stating that Clarkson had asked about buying “Molly,” a one-of-a-kind singing and dancing bird automaton which is “permanently attached to the wall and isn’t for sale.”
They said that Clarkson’s version of events “would resonate with anyone who has ever felt judged,” but said that all shoppers at Art of Play “are equally welcome.”
“Imagine our surprise when our small local business was suddenly attacked by eight million people who have never visited our store,” the shop wrote on Instagram.
Clarkson hit back later that day, posting a photo showing a $15,000 US price tag on the wall next to the wooden bird automaton.
“So you’re not only rude, you’re also a liar. […] It’s not that hard to be kind. I never blast people but you, my friend, were an exception,” the star wrote.
Clarkson rarely makes personal posts on social media. Her previous post on X was two weeks earlier and promoted her coaching gig on NBC’s The Voice.
On Monday, the shop said it told Clarkson the $15,000 US price referred to a nearly identical bird that could be made and sold, not Molly itself.
The store also said it offered to show Clarkson a different bird atomaton on sale for about $2,000 US, but that she didn’t stick around long enough to see it.
In an interview with several outlets , Rubin said no one in the shop recognized Clarkson at the time, the store was “packed” and Clarkson was there for “less than five minutes.” He also alleged that Clarkson scolded an employee.
“Everybody has a bad day. But things changed when she used her platform to attack us. It’s asymmetrical social warfare,” he said.
The internet weighs in
On social media, users have been closely following the online debacle and sharing their thoughts.
“This kelly clarkson situation is why everyone should work a retail job at some point in their life bc after u do u will never again care how store employees treat u,” one user wrote on X
“Even if you buy kelly clarkson’s entire narrative here… this doesn’t feel like a pretty woman situation,” wrote another, adding that “it seems perfectly reasonable that whoever she spoke to would not really be focused on selling it / expect to.”
Molly, a singing and dancing mechanical bird, by Bliss Kolb, is displayed at Art of Play, on Tuesday, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (Yuki Iwamura/The Associated Press)
“I think the funniest part about this situation is that for anyone to take a side they must either feel empathy for multimillionaire celebrity Kelly Clarkson or these multimillionaire shop owners,” a third wrote.
“What we can learn from Kelly Clarkson and Art of Play situation is if any customer asks for a price of your product, the right thing to do is not discriminate based on how they’re dressed,” another wrote.
