At the Brooklyn novelty shop in 'surreal' row with Kelly Clarkson over mechanical bird — SkimNews
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- Kelly Clarkson accused Brooklyn's Art of Play of treating her like Julia Roberts' character in Pretty Woman after staff declined to sell her a mechanical bird called Molly, claiming she was "looked at as if I couldn't afford" the $15,000 item.
- Art of Play defended its staff, saying the wooden bird Molly is permanently mounted on the wall and not for sale, but employees offered to order her an identical bird for $15,000 or a different singing bird for $2,000 from a German clockmaker.
- Art of Play's owner told CBS News the store had faced threats and harassment after Clarkson's post, saying the singer "endangered" his staff; one man filmed himself yelling accusations of racial profiling outside the shop.
- Surveillance video released by the store shows Clarkson in a yellow shirt and baseball cap pointing at the bird, then returning animatedly to the cashier before leaving; the store said it was "attacked by eight million people who have never visited our store."
- Local customers in Cobble Hill defended the shop, with one saying "I feel like a pretty woman and I've always been treated very well here," while a neighbor called it a "very nice small mom and pop store."
- Molly the bird now sports a tongue-in-cheek $15 million price tag and a sign reading "world's most famous singing bird automata!" as the store tries to ride out the publicity.
Why it matters: A single social media post from a Grammy-winning artist with millions of followers has triggered threats and harassment against a small Brooklyn shop with no comparable platform to defend itself. The storeowner says Clarkson "endangered" his staff, and the business has now released surveillance footage in an effort to counter her version of events — a stark illustration of how celebrity complaints can mobilize online pile-ons against independent retailers overnight.
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