If Kelly Clarkson still wants this mechanical singing bird, she can apparently now buy it for an incredibly high price.
According to The United States today, Adam Rubin, co-owner of Art of Play, has decided to put his automated bird Molly on sale for $15 million, given all the attention the bird has received following the store’s viral feud with the American idol star.
The listing in the store now reads: “Molly. Designed and created by Bliss Kolb. The world’s most famous songbird automatons! $15,000,000.”
The United States today added that Rubin said if someone bought Molly, he would give $15,000 to each store employee and pay the artist $1 million. With the rest of the money, he said he would buy lots of other antique machines.
The price represents a fairly significant increase from the number listed next to the bird when Clarkson visited the store on October 10. The singer inquired about purchasing the bird, which had a tag reading $15,000, then took to social media to complain that the owner had treated her with disdain — as if assuming she couldn’t afford the bird. The owner countered that the price was the cost of ordering a similar bird from the artist and that Molly was not for sale (indeed, an Instagram post from the store five weeks ago also indicated that the bird was not for sale).
Considering the new rather exorbitant price, one could say that the bird is still not Really for sale. But a few years ago, collectors were paying up to tens of millions for now worthless NFTs, so the value of anything in the art collectible world is arguably whatever someone is willing to pay. One could also simply purchase the bird – apparently the exact same bird – directly from the artist’s website for much less.
Brooklyn curiosity store owners say they experienced a surge in foot traffic due to the ad, but also a flood of backlash from Clarkson fans, including threatening messages. “We fear for the safety of our merchants,” Rubin said. “Kelly Clarkson put us in danger.”
The update follows the release of security footage from Clarkson’s visit to the store, showing Clarkson wandering around the store for approximately five minutes, including a rather brief interaction with a store employee.
Afterward, Clarkson posted, “I drove all the way to Brooklyn to visit this store that I thought was really awesome and had a few things in mind to buy and literally got looked at like I couldn’t afford it and told they could find something comparable for me. Wow, man. You’re an idiot and just lost a huge sale. But you should all go see Art of Play in Brooklyn if you like being treated like Julia Roberts’ character in Pretty woman. Sure, take a look 👎”
Clarkson later disputed the co-owner’s account that it was not for sale. “You looked at me in the elevator and said in a condescending tone, ‘Yes, it’s for sale but it’s $15,000, so if you’d like me to find something comparable for you, I can.’ All of this never happened and now it’s no longer for sale. Okay, cool. So you’re not only rude, you’re also a liar… And by the way, I obviously support small business because I was literally in a small business trying to buy things.
In his The United States today In the interview, Rubin retorted, “Nothing happened in that store to warrant her berating our storekeeper on the way out, but I could let that go. Everyone has a bad day. But things changed when she used her platform to attack us. It’s an asymmetrical social war.”
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