Kelly Clarkson bird row leaves Brooklyn shop facing threats, owner says
Adam Rubin, co-owner of Brooklyn games shop Art of Play, says Kelly Clarkson has put his business in danger after a dispute over a mechanical singing bird.
“Kelly Clarkson has put us in danger,” Rubin said in an interview with Curbed published Oct. 13, as reported by Billboard. He claimed people linked to the shop have been threatened in the street since the row began. He also claimed that people who expressed support for the shop online have faced attacks.
Art of Play is a games store in Brooklyn, according to The Independent. What began as a shopping trip turned into a public dispute over customer service involving the singing mechanical bird, as described by USA Today.
The controversy started Oct. 10, when Clarkson criticised the shop on X after a visit to its Brooklyn store. She said she felt judged as unable to afford an item, comparing the experience to Julia Roberts’ character in Pretty Woman. In her posts she also called an employee an idiot, according to Forbes.
At the centre of the dispute is Molly, a mechanical singing bird. The shop says Molly is fixed permanently to a wall and used in magic shows at the store. It identifies the maker as artist Bliss Kolb.
Art of Play says a near-identical piece owned by Kolb was available for 15,000 US dollars. Staff instead offered to show Clarkson a different singing bird automaton, made by a German clockmaking shop and costing about 2,000 US dollars, the shop said. That account presents the issue as a misunderstanding over which bird was for sale.
Clarkson rejected that version of events. In a response published Oct. 11, she called the store owner a “liar”, according to People. She maintained she was told she could not buy a 15,000 US dollar item.
Rubin said the fallout has been swift and severe. The shop has received phone calls, emails and negative reviews across several platforms since Oct. 10. People have also turned up outside the shop to confront staff, he said.
The volume of messages forced the shop to switch off its phone. Rubin also said personal information about neighbours who filmed the encounter with Clarkson was shared online, widening the dispute beyond the shop and the singer.
What makes this stand out is the scale. A neighbourhood shop built around games and magic is now handling a global audience. A complaint about customer service became, within days, a dispute about safety, privacy and who gets believed online.
