![\"US](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/367919.jpg\" "\\"US")
<\/p>\nNEW YORK, Oct 12 \u2014 A singing, dancing bird automaton has landed US singer and talk show host Kelly Clarkson in a very public standoff with a Brooklyn shop, and social media users are split over who is in the right.<\/p>\n
The row began last Saturday, when the singer, 44, posted on X that she had driven to Art of Play, a store selling home goods, puzzles, games, toys and books, with a few things in mind to buy.<\/p>\n
Instead, she wrote, she \u201cliterally was looked at as if I couldn\u2019t afford it\u201d, and was told the shop could find something comparable for her.<\/p>\n
She then urged her followers to visit the shop if they enjoy being treated like Julia Roberts\u2019 character Vivian in the 1990 rom-com Pretty Woman.<\/p>\n
The post has since racked up over 39.9 million views.<\/p>\n
Clarkson, who moved to New York City in the autumn of 2023, said the piece she wanted, titled Singing Bird, had a price tag of US$15,000 (RM61,300), and that she had been told it was for sale at that price.<\/p>\n
Art of Play responded the next day on Instagram, saying she had asked about buying Molly, a one-of-a-kind singing and dancing bird automaton that features in the magic shows the shop hosts.<\/p>\n
\u201cMolly is permanently attached to the wall and isn\u2019t for sale,\u201d the shop wrote.<\/p>\n
It added that the \u201cnegative experience\u201d Clarkson described would resonate with anyone who has ever felt judged in a shop, and stressed that it welcomes browsers and buyers alike.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
US singer Kelly Clarkson accused New York shop Art of Play on X of treating her as if she could not afford its goods and of lying about whether a US$15,000 (RM61,300) singing bird automaton was for sale, which the shop says is not for sale. \u2014 Screenshots from X\/kellyclarkson<\/p>\n
The shop also said it was taken aback by the online fallout.<\/p>\n
\u201cImagine our surprise when our small local business was suddenly attacked by 8 million people who have never visited our store.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clarkson hit back on Sunday through a sarcastic Instagram Stories post, saying the conversation she had about the price tag was now being brushed aside as something that never happened.<\/p>\n
She also shared a grainy photo that apparently showed the item hanging on the wall with a price tag beside it.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you\u2019re not only rude, you\u2019re also a liar. Got it,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n
The singer said she supports small businesses, having tried to spend money in one, but argued that \u201cyou don\u2019t get a free pass to treat people less than in your store just because you are a small business\u201d.<\/p>\n
She added that she rarely blasts people, called the store cool and said its owner was not.<\/p>\n
Online, some X users accused Clarkson of using her fame to go after a small business over one employee\u2019s behaviour.<\/p>\n
\u201cA small business does not need a mega bully,\u201d one X user posted under the handle @usebigears.<\/p>\n
Others rallied behind the singer, with one user, @megakunt1, arguing that the shop\u2019s staff were at fault because \u201cthey assumed she couldn\u2019t afford it\u201d even though the price was clearly displayed.<\/p>\n
A few users went further, predicting that an employee at the store would lose their job over the incident.<\/p>\n
Art of Play struck a calmer note, thanking supporters, welcoming the curious and saying it planned to keep a low profile.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully, we can clear things up with Kelly someday,\u201d the shop said, before borrowing a line from her hit Stronger (What Doesn\u2019t Kill You).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK, Oct 12 \u2014 A singing, dancing bird automaton has landed US singer and talk show host…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":643956,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[289961,289962,458,146,85,46,8980,289964,230979,289963],"class_list":["post-643955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-art-of-play","tag-brooklyn-shop","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-kelly-clarkson","tag-molly-automaton","tag-pretty-woman","tag-singing-bird"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=643955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643955\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/643956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=643955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=643955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=643955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}