Kelly Clarkson Art of Play Footage Released — SkimNews
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Pablo Torre acquired and released silent security footage of Clarkson's visit to Art of Play, showing her browsing with her children before approaching the $15,000 Molly bird automaton and speaking with a store employee who pointed at the display.
- Art of Play issued a Sunday statement asserting the singing bird is 'permanently attached to the wall and isn't for sale' and 'plays an important role in the magic shows we host here,' contradicting Clarkson's account that the employee offered to 'find something comparable' for her.
- Clarkson fired back on X, quoting the alleged exchange: 'yes, it's for sale but it costs 15,000 dollars so if you'd like me to find something comparable for you I can,' accusing the employee of 'elevator eying' her in a 'condescending tone.'
- The footage shows Clarkson putting back items she was holding and gesticulating while speaking to a second employee at the front counter before leaving; her first tweet about the interaction was posted 15 minutes after her under-five-minute visit.
- Art of Play owner Adam Rubin told Inside Edition the store has been review-bombed and employees and neighboring businesses have been harassed, saying, 'Kelly Clarkson has put us in danger… It's just social warfare,' while explaining staff treated her 'like a normal person' because the shop was crowded.
- Cross-coverage from Rolling Stone and The Guardian frames the dispute primarily as a celebrity-versus-small-business social media spat, while the video itself surfaces a detail the dominant framing overlooks: Clarkson appeared to be holding merchandise she had already selected before ultimately returning it to the shelves.
Why it matters: A single celebrity tweet naming a small Brooklyn shop has triggered review-bombing, harassment of staff, and fears for nearby businesses, with the newly released footage leaving the core factual dispute — whether the bird was offered for sale and whether the employee was condescending — unresolved between the two parties' accounts.
Ask SkimNews
