{"id":370628,"date":"2026-10-11T23:22:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-11T23:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/370628\/"},"modified":"2026-10-11T23:22:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-11T23:22:11","slug":"what-is-the-kelly-clarkson-controversy-brooklyn-store-fires-back-with-not-for-sale-claim-as-pretty-woman-drama-escalates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/370628\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the Kelly Clarkson controversy? Brooklyn store fires back with ‘not for sale’ claim as ‘Pretty Woman’ drama escalates"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clarkson\u2019s complaint about a Brooklyn <\/a>toy store has turned into a bigger controversy, with the store now sharing its side of the story. The singer <\/a>says she was treated poorly, but Art of Play claims the item she wanted to buy was never for sale<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"KellyKelly Clarkson has called out Art of Play, a Brooklyn store, after saying she was treated badly there. (Charles Sykes\/Invision\/AP)What is the Kelly Clarkson controversy?<\/p>\n

Kelly Clarkson has called out a toy store in Brooklyn after she said she was treated badly there. The singer and talk show host is 44. She took to X on October 10 and compared her experience to a famous scene from the movie \u201cPretty Woman<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

What Kelly Clarkson said on X<\/p>\n

Clarkson wrote: \u201cJust drove all the way to Brooklyn to check out this store I thought looked really rad and had a few things in mind to buy and literally was looked at as if I couldn\u2019t afford it and was told he could find something comparable for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

She went on to write: \u201cWow, dude. You\u2019re an idiot and just lost a huge sale. But y\u2019all should go check out Art of Play in Brooklyn if you enjoy being treated like Julia Roberts character in Pretty Woman. For sure, check it out.\u201d She ended her post with the thumbs down emoji.<\/p>\n

What is the \u201cPretty Woman\u201d scene?<\/p>\n

The scene shows Julia Roberts\u2019 character going shopping. She is rudely told that she is \u201cin the wrong place\u201d because the clothes are too expensive for her. The next day, she goes back to the store with several shopping bags, dressed in fancier clothes. She tells the staff they made a \u201cbig mistake. Big. Huge!\u201d<\/p>\n

Also read: ‘Trump Ocean’? Trump floats renaming Atlantic or Pacific by 2028<\/a><\/p>\n

What Art of Play said<\/p>\n

Art of Play has now replied to Clarkson\u2019s post on their Instagram. As per the store\u2019s statement, Clarkson visited the Brooklyn store and asked about buying \u201cMolly,\u201d a one-of-a-kind singing and dancing bird automaton. The store says Molly plays an important role in its magic shows.<\/p>\n

According to the store, Molly is permanently attached to the wall and is not for sale. The store also said the bad experience Clarkson described \u201cwould resonate with anyone who has ever felt judged in a shop.\u201d<\/p>\n

As per the statement, everyone is welcome at Art of Play, whether they come to buy or just look around. The store says it greets every visitor with the invitation to \u201cpick things up and play.\u201d It says many people stay for hours enjoying the puzzles, games and toys.<\/p>\n

The store said it was surprised that its small local business was \u201cattacked by 8 million people who have never visited our store.\u201d It called the experience \u201csurreal.\u201d<\/p>\n

It ended with the line: \u201cAs a talented popular singer once said \u2018what doesn\u2019t kill you makes you stronger.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Here is the full statement:<\/p>\n

Also read: Tim Kennedy health update: Ex-UFC fighter stable at Walter Reed after deadly Congo ambush<\/a><\/p>\n

How people reacted after store\u2019s statement<\/p>\n

As per posts on X, people were divided after Art of Play shared its response.<\/p>\n

Some users sided with Clarkson.<\/p>\n

One user wrote: \u201cThe tone of this statement is proof that they spoke to Kelly with rudeness. lol. Get em Kelly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another wrote: \u201cTheir response is DEEPLY passive aggressive.\u201d<\/p>\n

A third wrote: \u201cThis statement from Art of Play is severely lacking in self-awareness of their role in customer relations\u2026 there is no justification for how the customer felt if they could have (and should have) communicated better\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Others sided with the store. One user wrote: \u201cwe love @kellyclarkson but girlie you have to make it right because you vague posted about feeling a type of way when they were simply saying the thing you wanted to buy wasn\u2019t for sale\u2026 this ain\u2019t it. it\u2019s giving karen privilege as i think about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another wrote: \u201cKelly was wrong to post her complaint over a perceived \u201clook\u201d from someone. She should have taken it up with management instead of blasting it to millions of followers – knowing the consequences of doing so. Kelly was very immature for making this a public spectacle!\u201d<\/p>\n

One more user wrote: \u201cThis hits different. She made a statement making it appear someone in their shop made her feel like she couldn\u2019t afford the merchandise they sell. I truly hope she didn\u2019t attempt to harm a business because she couldn\u2019t get what she wanted BECAUSE IT WASN\u2019T FOR SALE to begin with!\u201d<\/p>\n

Another wrote: \u201cUh, so apparently Kelly Clarkson demanded to buy something that wasn\u2019t for sale and is attached to the wall of the store. Girl\u201d<\/p>\n

About the store<\/p>\n

Art of Play\u2019s website says it has a \u201cunique collection of magical home goods, puzzles, games, toys and books.\u201d It also has a theater that hosts \u201cperformances from the best close-up magicians in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to USA Today<\/a>, the store\u2019s online ratings from before Clarkson\u2019s post were mostly good.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Clarkson\u2019s complaint about a Brooklyn toy store has turned into a bigger controversy, with the store now sharing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":370629,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[136700,136772,98,100,99,32346,136769,136770,136771,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-370628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-art-of-play","tag-art-of-play-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-kelly-clarkson","tag-kelly-clarkson-controversy","tag-kelly-clarkson-tweet","tag-kelly-clarkson-x-post","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370628\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}