Photo: Weiss Eubanks/Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal via G
Did Kelly Clarkson get Pretty womanin a pretentious toy store in Brooklyn? Or did she say a “Do you know who I am?” » about a small local business facing the whole Internet? For the past two days, Clarkson has been involved in an online back-and-forth with Art of Play, a novelty store in the bustling Brooklyn Heights neighborhood owned by twin brothers Dan, Dave Buck and Adam Rubin. Clarkson says she inquired about an expensive item at the store and employees implied she couldn’t afford it. Art of Play says the item Clarkson requested wasn’t for sale at all, but they tried to accommodate her request as best they could.
The hubbub began on Saturday, when Clarkson tweeted that she had just driven “all the way to Brooklyn” to check out Art of Play, which she said “looked really awesome,” and there were even a few specific things she had her eye on buying. Unfortunately, she said, the person helping her looked at her “like I couldn’t afford it” and suggested she find something comparable. “Wow, man,” Clarkson wrote. “You’re an idiot and you just lost a huge sale.” Big mistake! Huge!
Shortly after, the store responded with its own statement, saying Clarkson “inquired about purchasing ‘Molly,’ a one-of-a-kind singing and dancing automaton bird that plays an important role in the magic shows we put on here.” According to the store, Molly is “permanently attached to the wall and is not for sale.” The statement continued: “Imagine our surprise when our small, local business was suddenly attacked by 8 million people who have never visited our store. »
However, this was not the end of the exchanges. Clarkson then returned to X and her Instagram Stories with a second statement, accusing the store of outright lying, and including a photo of the bird with a $15,000 price tag. “So the whole conversation we had when I asked you if it was for sale while pointing to the price tag on the wall with the title Singing Bird didn’t happen when 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,'” Clarkson wrote.
Art of Play later issued a “clarification,” stating that although Molly is permanently attached to the wall, the Seattle-based artist who created the automaton owns another nearly identical bird and: “He told us he would be willing to part with Molly’s twin for $15,000.” The store said it then gave Clarkson “a different songbird automaton, made by a traditional clockmaking workshop in Germany, that she could have taken home that day. It cost about $2,000.” However, the outlet said: “She didn’t stay long enough to see it. »
In the meantime, Art of Play has reposted messages of support from customers, influencers and friends on its Instagram Stories and pinned a post from September titled “Our Favorite Items Not For Sale…”. The post includes a photo of the bird automaton, but also text stating: “While the items on our shelves have a price, what happens when you play with them is free.”
So far, neither party has backed down or offered a real apology — leaving it up to the Internet to decide which of the people arguing over a $15,000 songbird is the real victim here.
Gn entert
