CCTV footage from Arto of Play, the shop where Kelly Clarkson accused staff of mistreating her, shows the moment the singer and the employee started arguing
CCTV footage from Art of Play, the Brooklyn shop at the centre of a feud over a mechanical bird with Kelly Clarkson, shows the moment when things soured between the singer and the staff.
Over the weekend, Kelly, 44, accused the staff at Art of Play of refusing to see her a mechanical bird that was attached to their wall. She likened the moment to a scene in the 1990 film Pretty Woman, where a character is refused service and belittled whilst at a boutique, as the employees think she can’t afford anything in their shop.
Security footage from the shop now shows an agitated Kelly pointing at the shop’s employees, right before she stormed off the premises.
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The silent footage was obtained by Pablo Torre, host of the podcast Pablo Torre Finds Out, and he shared it on his YouTube account. In the video, Kelly walked into the busy shop in a yellow shirt, blue jeans and a baseball cap. She was seen browsing the store’s items before approaching an employee to ask about the bird, who is permanently attached to the wall and called Molly. There was a wheel system underneath the bird that, when turned, made it sing.
When Kelly pointed at the bird on the wall, the employee shook his head and pointed at something underneath the bird. Kelly is then seen pointing to another section of the shop and the worker moved towards it. But when he looked back at Kelly, she was not looking in his direction or following him, and he started speaking to another customer. Kelly, who had been looking at another item when the shop keeper looked back, then turned to the shop keeper but saw him talking to someone else.
The singer, who appeared agitated, started gesturing while speaking to another employee behind the shop’s counter. According to Torre and his podcast guests, the other customers seemed to react to the confrontation as Kelly left the store.
Shortly after her time in the shop, Kelly wrote on X: “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.
“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.”
The shop later took to Instagram to respond. They wrote: “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. However, the negative experience Kelly described on twitter would resonate with anyone who has ever felt judged in a shop.”
They added that they encourage people to come into their shop and play with the items, but that they were “surprised” to be the subject of outrage after Kelly’s words. The shop said that they hoped to “clear things up with Kelly” and thanked their friends for their support.
Despite their statement, several Brooklyn residents hopped in the comments to say that they had seen a price tag near the bird. One wrote: “I was literally there in August and saw Molly, there was a price tag on it. It most definitely was for sale.”
But others also said that they had only had a wonderful experience, including Michelle Monaghan, who said it was one of the “most special places” she had ever been to.
The shop also said that they had tried to explain to Kelly that the price tag near Molly was for her ‘twin’, made by an artist in Seattle, and that the “comparable” item they tried to show her was another mechanical bird that they had in store and could be taken home that day.
Kelly responded to the post with an Instagram post of her own. She said: “Sure, it wasn’t for sale. So the whole conversation we had when I asked you if it was for sale whilst pointing to the price tag … didn’t happen … Okay, cool. So you’re not only rude, you’re also a liar.” She added that she loved small business and thought the store was “really cool” but that its staff were not.
The Mirror has reached out to reps for Kelly Clarkson.
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