Pablo Torre promised us security footage of Kelly Clarkson’s now-viral visit to Art of Play in Brooklyn. Well, we received the video Tuesday evening, but no audio – too bad.
The OG American Idol was in the toy store for exactly four minutes and 50 seconds. What we saw from this brief visit doesn’t bode well for the “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” singer.
During most of her time in the store, Clarkson can be seen playing with what appears to be a kaleidoscope near the store’s entrance. His interaction with the owner of Art of Play was relatively brief. She appears to be asking the store owner about “Molly”, the automaton bird attached to the wall. After a short conversation, Clarkson walked away from the man and toward another part of the store. The store owner appears to be trying to regain his attention, pointing to what appears to be another product on an adjacent wall. She doesn’t seem to respond and the owner of Art of Play moves on to help another customer.
Upon leaving the store, Clarkson appears to share strong feelings toward a second man, who is working the cash register. She would share these same strong feelings on social media exactly 15 minutes after she left.
“I drove all the way to Brooklyn to visit this store that I thought was really cool and had a few things in mind to buy. I was literally looked at like I couldn’t afford it and told they could find something comparable for me,” Miss Independent wrote. “Wow, man. You’re an idiot and you 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 👎”
The “comparable” product was a pair of other automaton birds made by a German watchmaker. It cost $2,000. Torre bought it, revealed it on his show, and announced he would sell it at auction.
In response to Clarkson’s initial post, The Art of Play owner said his “small, local business was suddenly attacked by 8 million people who have never visited our store.”
“Yesterday, Kelly Clarkson visited us in Brooklyn and asked us how to purchase ‘Molly,’ a one-of-a-kind singing and dancing automaton bird that plays an important role in the magic shows we put on here,” Art of Play posted. “Molly is permanently attached to the wall and is not for sale. However, the negative experience Kelly described on Twitter would resonate with anyone who has ever felt judged in a store.
“At Art of Play, whether someone comes to make a purchase or just look around for a while, they’re equally welcome. We greet everyone who walks through the door with the invitation to ‘pick up things and play.’ And they do, many stay for hours enjoying our puzzles, games and toys.
Clarkson and Art of Play (and the rest of X, fka Twitter) went back and forth from there, leading to Torre taking up the cause.
Gn entert
