The Voice coach Kelly Clarkson went viral over the weekend after she posted negatively about a store she visited in Brooklyn. The store has since responded about the alleged incident, sparking conversation among fans on social media.
On Saturday, Kelly Clarkson took to X (formerly Twitter) to share that she “drove all the way to Brooklyn” to visit a store called Art of Play, where she “had a few things in mind to buy.” Clarkson claimed she “literally was looked at as if I couldn’t afford it and was told he could find something comparable for me.”
“Wow, dude. You’re an idiot and just lost a huge sale,” Clarkson wrote of the store employee with whom she interacted, going on to compare her experience to a famous scene featuring Julia Roberts in the movie Pretty Woman.
Art of Play responded to Clarkson’s post by claiming that the singer had sought to buy Molly, a “singing and dancing birth automaton” which is “permanently attached to the wall and isn’t for sale.” They shared their “surprise” over being “suddenly attacked by 8 million people who have never visited our store.”
The back-and-forth continued as Clarkson claimed there was a $15,000 price tag on the wall near the bird. Art of Play later clarified “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” which he is willing to sell. They also apparently offered to show her “a different singing bird automaton” which costs around $2,000, but Clarkson “did not stick around long enough to see it.”
SHOP TALENT RECAP MERCH:
What Did Fans Have to Say About It?
Social media users are divided over the situation Kelly Clarkson posted about. Many of the singer’s fans came to her defense, even apparently posting negative reviews of the store online. Others argued that Clarkson was acting entitled, and that the situation wasn’t serious enough for her to pit her millions of followers against a small business.
“We never doubted you queen. Their response was in extremely poor taste,” one user wrote in response to Clarkson’s second post about the store, referring to Art of Play’s statement. Another wrote, “Thank you for calling this out. Being a small business is not a pass for sh*tty behavior.”
“Convinced the thirty people defending Kelly Clarkson rn have never worked retail in their life,” wrote another user, adding, “like there’s no way for her to spin this where it doesn’t sound like she’s just plainly an entitled a**hole.”
“Nothing screams RICH WHITE PEOPLE PROBLEMS like arguing with a small business over a $15,000 animatronic bird and claiming it’s a ‘Pretty Woman’ scenario,” wrote another user. “I like Kelly Clarkson, but fighting over something so irrelevant (and EXPENSIVE) when most of her followers are probably struggling to buy food for their families or put gas in their car or find a job seems tone deaf.”
SHOP TALENT RECAP MERCH:
What do you think about Kelly Clarkson’s beef with Art of Play? Was it entitled of her to post about the incident on social media? Let us know in the comments below.
