{"id":374612,"date":"2026-10-16T07:34:20","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T07:34:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/374612\/"},"modified":"2026-10-16T07:34:20","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T07:34:20","slug":"brooklyn-store-owner-breaks-down-ludicrous-interaction-with-kelly-clarkson-over-mechanical-bird","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/374612\/","title":{"rendered":"Brooklyn store owner breaks down ‘ludicrous’ interaction with Kelly Clarkson over mechanical bird"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Brooklyn shop owner embroiled in a bizarre feud with Kelly Clarkson<\/a> is setting the record straight about the \u201cludicrous\u201d encounter over a mechanical bird \u2014 disputing the pop star\u2019s version of what transpired.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe did not take out her Black Card and try to buy the thing off the wall. She was not told no, she was not told to leave,\u201d Art of Play co-owner Adam Rubin exclusively told Page Six Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The children\u2019s book author recalled Clarkson entering the Brooklyn Heights establishment and interacting with a staffer for a visit that lasted less than five minutes. <\/a><\/p>\n

Art of Play co-owner Adam Rubin (seen here at his store on Oct. 13) walked through his staffer\u2019s interaction with Kelly Clarkson in an interview with Page Six. Gregory P. Mango for NY Post<\/p>\n

Rubin said Clarkson (seen here in 2023) was \u201cnot told no.\u201d Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cShe asked about the bird. It\u2019s on the wall, and attached permanently. It was explained to her that it\u2019s a complicated situation to get these things made,\u201d Rubin said, adding, \u201cThey take years. There\u2019s one guy that makes them, and if we have seriously interested buyers, then we talk to the artist and try to work something out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rubin explained the automaton, named \u201cMolly,\u201d that Clarkson was interested in purchasing is like a \u201ccouch on the showroom floor\u201d in a furniture store. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t expect to take it out the door with you when you leave, do you? But there\u2019s a price tag on it,\u201d he said. \u201cSo then you have a conversation with the person that works at the store about how can I get something like that in my house? <\/p>\n

\u201cThat conversation did not go the way that she wanted it to go, and she felt disrespected,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Rubin claimed that Clarkson\u2019s version of events, which she shared with her millions of X followers, doesn\u2019t align with his employee\u2019s experience. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just like [a] he-said-she-said thing, right?\u201d he said. \u201cSo she\u2019s going to say one thing, I\u2019m going to say another thing. The point of it is, nothing happened in the shop that was so dramatic that it\u2019s worth throwing a Molotov cocktail into a mom-and pop-business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rubin said Clarkson entered the store (seen above) and was treated like every other customer. Gregory P. Mango for NY Post<\/p>\n

The store (above) is known for selling playing cards and other collectables. Michael Nigro for NY Post<\/p>\n

While Rubin admitted to having \u201csympathy\u201d for the \u201cAmerican Idol\u201d alum, he isn\u2019t so quick to forgive her for calling out his store.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so hard to forgive her actions after she walked out the door,\u201d he said. \u201cShe knew what was going to happen. She knew that the entire pressure of her millions and millions of fans around the world were going to come to the service of their queen and weaponize themselves and debase themselves on behalf of a millionaire they have never met.\u201d <\/p>\n

Rubin said that none of his employees thought twice about the interaction until Clarkson made her feelings known to staffers on her way out. <\/p>\n

\u201cNobody else in the store would have perceived that anything negative had happened until she told off the shopkeeper as she walked out the door. And that was the only time that we realized somebody was unhappy,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd then, 15 minutes later, the entire weight of the internet came crashing down upon us, and we were caught completely unprepared. We started getting flooded with hateful phone calls and threats and text messages. They are doxing our neighbors. Like, this is crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rubin called the entire situation \u201cludicrous\u201d and \u201csurreal.\u201d <\/p>\n

Rubin (seen here on Oct. 13) told us Clarkson felt \u201cdisrespected\u201d when they explained the bird was not for sale. Gregory P. Mango for NY Post<\/p>\n

The robotic bird named \u201cMolly\u201d (seen above) had a $15,000 price tag in the store. Gregory P. Mango for NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen this thing first started, everybody wanted us to die. And as the truth has come to light, thinking people realize this is reprehensible abuse of power<\/a>,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have to reconsider the place we give celebrities in our society.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd this is not how you can behave as a citizen in the world, like, if you are this famous and powerful and you try to squash someone like a bug, then we\u2019re supposed to blame the trolls for all the damage that\u2019s inflicted. She lit the fuse.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rubin admitted that his staffers did know that Clarkson was an A-lister when she came into the brick-and-mortar. <\/p>\n

\u201cNobody recognized her. Nobody knew who she was. We have celebrities coming all the time. We are not reading the gossip columns. We\u2019re not watching TV. We don\u2019t know who people are,\u201d Rubin said. \u201cWhat happens is somebody comes in, they shop, we treat them like we would treat everybody else.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also claimed that people \u201cway more famous\u201d than Clarkson have shopped at his store and were treated the same as any other customer. <\/p>\n

Clarkson (above) claimed the employee didn\u2019t think she could afford the toy bird. BACKGRID<\/p>\n

She was offered another automaton (seen above) that was being sold for $2,000. Gregory P. Mango for NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cThey do not have a problem with it\u2026 So many celebrities have come in here, and many of them have posted publicly about how they love this place,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Rubin noted that the toy bird has now become somewhat of a celebrity too \u2014 so much so that her price tag has skyrocketed. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn the past 72 hours, Molly, a singing bird automaton has become the most famous singing bird automaton in the world,\u201d Rubin said. \u201cAnd we have raised the price from $15,000 to $15 million. And if somebody walks into the shop with $15 million, they can take the thing off the wall and enjoy it in their home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rubin said that no one in his store recognized Clarkson (seen above in 2023). GC Images<\/p>\n

The singer (seen here in 2023) claimed they treated her like Julia Roberts\u2019 character in \u201cPretty Woman.\u201d Getty Images for iHeartRadio<\/p>\n

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Molly became the songbird heard around the world this weekend when Clarkson took to X with claims <\/a>that Art of Play staffers treated her like Julia Roberts\u2019 character in \u201cPretty Woman.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201cFrom Justin to Kelly\u201d star, 44, claimed an employee assumed she could not afford the toy bird, which was listed for $15,000, and offered to show her a different automaton that cost $2,000. Apparently offended by the suggestion, she turned the offer down. <\/p>\n

In response, the store shared a statement telling fans that the bird was not for sale<\/a> and that they offered her another option instead. <\/p>\n

Clarkson accused the store of lying,<\/a> writing on X, \u201cThat all never happened and now it\u2019s not for sale. Okay, cool. So you\u2019re not only rude, you\u2019re also a liar. Got it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The shop claimed they had tried reaching out directly to Clarkson in the hopes of smoothing things over. <\/a><\/p>\n

Clarkson, 44, subsequently accused the store of lying about the exchange,<\/a> while the owners said they had tried reaching out to her in hopes of making amends.<\/a><\/p>\n

Clarkson (above) caused a flood of fans to attack the store staffers with hate comments. NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Leaked footage (above) showed Clarkson dropping by the store this weekend. Pablo Torre Finds Out<\/p>\n

A source exclusively told Page Six earlier this week that Clarkson \u201cmust\u2019ve been livid\u201d over the exchange to go through the effort of blasting the business online.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know something must have really bothered her because that\u2019s just not who she is,\u201d the source said. \u201cShe\u2019s not someone who goes around making a big deal out of nothing. She\u2019s just a really good, normal person who happens to be incredibly famous.\u201d<\/p>\n

In leaked security footage released on Tuesday<\/a>, Clarkson was seen shopping in the store dressed in a yellow T-shirt and a baseball cap. While there is no audio, Clarkson is seen viewing the bird and talking to a staffer before exiting the store after just a few minutes. <\/p>\n

Clarkson\u2019s rep did not reply to Page Six\u2019s request for comment. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Brooklyn shop owner embroiled in a bizarre feud with Kelly Clarkson is setting the record straight about…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":374613,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,6714,191,68,32346,2538,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-374612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-celebrity-feuds","tag-celebrity-news","tag-exclusive","tag-kelly-clarkson","tag-music","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374612","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=374612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374612\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/374613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=374612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=374612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=374612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}