Kelly Clarkson’s Bird Quarrel: Brooklyn boutique Art of Play says Molly is now on sale for $15 million

A Brooklyn novelty store made it clear Sunday that Molly, a singing and dancing mechanical bird that serves as its unofficial mascot, was not for sale after an incident with Kelly Clarkson.

But on Tuesday, the store changed its tune. Molly can now be purchased – for $15 million.

Adam Rubin, one of the store’s co-owners, spoke to reporters Tuesday outside the Atlantic Avenue store and confirmed the high price.

Rubin declined to comment Wednesday. Clarkson did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Molly, social media’s latest celebrity, entered the zeitgeist this weekend after Clarkson shared what she described as an unpleasant experience at the Brooklyn store on social media minutes after her visit.

In a lengthy post, she claimed she “drove to Brooklyn” to check out Art of Play, only to be chased away when she inquired about purchasing Molly, as if she couldn’t afford the bird.

“But you should all go see Art of Play in Brooklyn if you like being treated like Julia Roberts’ character in Pretty Woman,” Clarkson said.

However, according to Art of Play, that’s not what happened.

In its own social media post Sunday, the store said Clarkson asked about purchasing Molly, but that wasn’t an option since the automaton bird is permanently mounted on a wall. The store said it told Clarkson that Molly was not for sale.

“Of course it wasn’t for sale. That’s the narrative that Art of Play is going to accompany,” Clarkson countered in another post on Sunday. She said she asked if Molly was for sale while pointing to a nearby sticker that appeared to list the price of the machine. She said she was told Molly would cost $15,000 and the store could find her something comparable at a lower price.

A photo of the alleged prize circulated online and Clarkson included it in his second post.

Art of Play then posted a second message on Monday to “clarify some additional details about Kelly Clarkson’s visit.”

The store said Clarkson was only in the store five minutes and after asking about Molly, an employee explained that while this bird was not for sale, “a nearly identical automaton belongs to the creator of the machines, a brilliant artist named Bliss Kolb who lives in Seattle.” Kolb did not respond to multiple requests for comment sent by NBC News.

“He told us he would be willing to part with Molly’s twin for $15,000,” the store employee continued. “We explained all of this to Kelly Clarkson.”

The store said it also offered to show her a bird for $2,000 that she could take home that day, but she “didn’t stay long enough to see it.”

Art of Play has since received much attention. Reporter Pablo Torre obtained surveillance video of Clarkson in the store. Another creator who goes by the name Sober Facts accused the store of racial profiling.

All of this led Rubin, the store owner, to gather reporters Tuesday morning to set the record straight.

“Kelly Clarkson put us in danger”

According to a condensed transcript of the impromptu press conference published by Curbed, Rubin called the incident a “senseless misunderstanding” and “asymmetric social warfare.” He also accused Clarkson of “scolding at our shopkeeper on his way out.”

When asked if the merchant told Clarkson that Molly wasn’t for sale, Rubin threw it twice.

“If this tweetstorm hadn’t happened, we wouldn’t have realized there was a negative interaction in the store; it wasn’t that dramatic,” he said, according to the transcript. “We treated her like a normal person, but apparently that didn’t meet her expectations.”

Rubin explained that artist Kolb takes years to create these one-of-a-kind birds and it’s not easy to obtain one.

“It’s not something that sits in a warehouse. It’s like a piece of sculpture. It’s a work of art,” he said.

But because Molly has attracted so much attention, Rubin said, he’s willing to part with the bird for $15 million.

Despite Molly’s five minutes of fame, Art of Play said they had to deal with “trolls.” The media has camped outside, and the store’s friends and neighbors are being “attacked” and “doxed,” Rubin said.

“Kelly Clarkson put us in danger,” Rubin said, adding that people were “threatened in the streets.” The store has turned off its phone due to the increase in calls, but comments continue to flood its social media pages. Real customers cannot contact us.

“I want to be very clear about this,” Rubin said Tuesday. “No one who has ever visited this store in person is siding with Kelly Clarkson.”

Clarkson is a coach on NBC’s “The Voice” and a former host of “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” also on the network. NBC is a division of NBCUniversal, which is also the parent company of NBC News.