“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 singer and former talk show host 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.”
Clarkson’s post quickly went viral and has since garnered more than 43 million views.
By Sunday, Art of Play had posted a response on its social media pages, claiming in an Instagram post that Clarkson had asked about an item that was not for sale.
“Yesterday, Kelly Clarkson visited us in Brooklyn and inquired about buying ‘Molly,’ a one-of-a-kind singing and dancing bird automaton who plays an important role in the magic shows we host here. Molly is permanently attached to the wall and isn’t for sale,” the store wrote.
It added, “We’re going to keep our heads down and hopefully, we can clear things up with Kelly someday.”
In a follow-up post, Clarkson shared a photo of the item she had asked about buying, which showed a price tag next to the bird.
“Cool, cool. Sure, it wasn’t for sale,” she wrote. “That’s the narrative Art of Play is gonna go with so the whole conversation we had when I asked you if it was for sale whilst pointing to the price tag hanging on the wall with the title Singing Bird didn’t happen as you elevator eyed me saying in a condescending tone ‘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.’ That all never happened and now it’s not for sale. Okay, cool.”
Art of Play then responded with a “clarification,” calling the dispute a “misunderstanding” and saying it had subsequently reached out to Clarkson “to try and clear the air.”
“During the 5 minutes she spent in the store, [Clarkson] inquired about our mechanical bird puppet named Molly. 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 store wrote. “He told us he would be willing to part with Molly’s twin for $15,000.”
It continued, “We explained all of this to Kelly Clarkson. We also offered to show her a different singing bird automaton, made by a traditional clockmaking shop in Germany, that she could have taken home with her that day. It costs about $2,000. She did not stick around long enough to see it.”
Both Clarkson’s and Art of Play’s posts have attracted supporters and critics alike, with some pointing out the apparent discrepancies in the shop’s initial response and it’s follow-up reply and others criticizing Clarkson for taking the feud public.
ABC News has reached out to Clarkson and Art of Play for comment.
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