Kelly Clarkson is accusing Art of Play of misrepresenting a shopping encounter after the Brooklyn store challenged her account of what happened.
The singer responded on Sunday, October 11, with a detailed description of her conversation with an employee, Entertainment Weekly reported.
She first criticized the business after visiting on Saturday, comparing the experience to the dismissive treatment Julia Roberts’ character receives in Pretty Woman.
Art of Play is a curiosity shop in Brooklyn Heights selling puzzles, games, books and unusual home goods.
Clarkson Says She Was Told the Bird Was for Sale
Cool, cool. Sure, it wasn’t for sale.
Kelly Clarkson (@kellyclarkson) October 11, 2026
Clarkson said she pointed to a price tag labeled “Singing Bird” and asked whether the item could be purchased. According to her account, the employee answered yes, quoted a price of $15,000 and offered to find her something comparable.
She described his tone as condescending and said he looked her up and down. She interpreted the offer of an alternative as a judgment about whether she could afford the item.
“So you’re not only rude, you’re also a liar,” she wrote after reading the store’s explanation.
Clarkson also shared an image presented as the displayed price information. EW reported that she reposted part of a fan’s post containing the photograph. Her rebuttal appeared on both X and Instagram Stories.
The Store Says the Price Referred to Molly’s Twin
Art of Play identified the display as Molly, a singing and dancing bird automaton that serves as a mascot and appears in its magic shows. Its first statement said the bird is permanently attached to the wall and unavailable for purchase.
The Brooklyn location houses a 26-seat theater for close-up magic performances, according to its website. The owner told CBS New York that the quoted price concerned a similar bird owned by its Seattle creator.
In its follow-up statement, the store identified the artist as Bliss Kolb and said he was willing to sell that piece. It maintained that staff had explained the arrangement to Clarkson during her visit.
The business said staff offered to show Clarkson a different singing bird made by a traditional German clockmaking shop. That model cost approximately $2,000 and could have been taken home immediately, but the store claimed she left before seeing it, Page Six reported.
Clarkson Says Small Businesses Still Have to Treat Customers Well
Clarkson also rejected the suggestion that criticizing the shop meant she did not support small businesses. She said her decision to visit and spend money there demonstrated the opposite.
“You don’t get a free pass to treat people less than in your store just because you are a small business,” she wrote.
She said publicly calling someone out was unusual for her, then separated her opinion of the shop from her assessment of the employee: “Your store is really cool. Unfortunately, you aren’t.”
Art of Play Says It Has Contacted Clarkson Directly
The store’s first response described the online backlash as overwhelming and said people were criticizing a business they had never visited. It also said browsers and paying customers were equally welcome.
Business Insider found recent negative Google reviews referencing the dispute on Sunday evening. When it checked again roughly three hours later, those reviews were no longer visible. Google had not answered the outlet’s questions about whether it had removed them by the time its report was published.
The publication also found both critical and supportive posts on Yelp, but could not independently verify whether the reviewers had visited the store.
In its latest statement, Art of Play said it had reached out to Clarkson directly to try to resolve what it described as a misunderstanding.
