Kelly Clarkson’s now-notorious visit to Art of Play in Brooklyn — home to a beloved automaton bird named Molly — has been made public.
The security footage, which shows inside the small business, was obtained by Pablo Torre, who aired it as part of his podcast “Pablo Torre Finds Out” on Tuesday. It shows Clarkson, who is wearing a yellow shirt, baggy pants, a baseball cap and a backpack. As she enters the shop, where she begins to browse. She picks up a a kaleidoscope and looks through it for a few seconds before she comes upon Molly, the piece of art at the center of the feud.
The “Voice” judge can then be seen flagging down an employee that Torre identified as one of the shop’s owners. Their exchange is brief and seems normal enough, though there is no audio in the clip. At one point, the owner can be seen pointing in a different direction, then heads off to help another customer.
Clarkson then returns to the front of the store and puts down the kaleidoscope before addressing an employee behind the counter. This interaction is significantly more animated, with the “American Idol” winner gesturing toward the shop owner. She then pulls out her phone and exits.
Torre noted Clarkson was in store for only four minutes and 50 seconds.
Some 15 minutes later, Clarkson took to social media to put Art of Play on blast.
“Just 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’t afford it and was told he could find something comparable for me,” The Voice coach wrote. “Wow, dude. You’re an idiot and just lost a huge sale.”
“But y’all 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,” she concluded, referencing the famous scene from the beloved 1990 romcom in which Roberts’ character Vivian is treated poorly by staff at a store because they believe she cannot afford their clothing.
Art of Play responded with its own Instagram post the next day, writing that Clarkson expressed interest in buying a “one-of-a-kind singing and dancing bird automaton” named Molly, who they said serves as a sort of mascot for the store.
“We explained that while Molly is permanently attached to the wall and serves as a de facto mascot for our shop, a nearly identical automaton is owned by the creator of the machines, a brilliant artist named Bliss Kolb who lives in Seattle,” the statement read. “He told us he would be willing to part with Molly’s twin for $15,000. We explained all of this to Kelly Clarkson.”
The store additionally claimed employees offered to show Clarkson a different automaton that she could take home the same day for $2,000, but she “did not stick around long enough to see it.”
In response, Clarkson shared a photo of Molly to Instagram, complete with a $15,000 price tag.
Art of Play has since raised that price to $15 million.
Co-owner Adam Rubin tried to clarify the situation in an interview published in New York Magazine on Tuesday.
“So many people asked about it that we had put a price on it, but we talked to the creator when he came to fix the machine, and if someone showed serious interest, we would reach out to him about getting them an automaton,” he explained. “As you’ve noticed, we’ve raised the price due to popular demand. It now costs $15 million.”
