Kelly Clarkson has escalated a dispute with Art of Play, a specialty store in Brooklyn, accusing the shop of lying after it pushed back on her account of an encounter in which she said staff treated her as though she could not afford its merchandise. In a new Instagram Stories post, Clarkson wrote: “So you’re not only rude, you’re also a liar. Got it.”
Clarkson first criticized the store over the weekend in a post on X, comparing the experience to the 1990 film Pretty Woman. On Sunday, October 11, the store responded on Instagram, saying the item Clarkson had asked about, “Molly,” a singing-and-dancing bird automaton used in its magic shows, “is permanently attached to the wall and isn’t for sale.”
Clarkson disputed that explanation. She shared a grainy photo that she said showed the bird on display beside a $15,000 price tag. She said an employee quoted the price before offering to find “something comparable.” She also said she had been shopping at a small business when the alleged slight occurred, writing: “You don’t get a free pass to treat people less than in your store just because you are a small business.” She closed her post with the line: “Your store is really cool. Unfortunately, you aren’t.”
In its Sunday statement, Art of Play acknowledged that the “negative experience Kelly described” would resonate with anyone who has felt judged in a shop, and said all visitors are “equally welcome.” The store also said it had been “suddenly attacked by 8 million people who have never visited our store,” and ended with a line from Clarkson’s 2012 hit “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You).”
The dispute comes during a transitional period for Clarkson. In August, she aired the series finale of The Kelly Clarkson Show, which won a Daytime Emmy, after seven seasons, saying she wanted to “prioritize my kids.” She has since returned to NBC’s The Voice for its 30th season, alongside Adam Levine, Queen Latifah and Riley Green.
Clarkson won the first season of American Idol in 2002. She has topped the Billboard Hot 100 with “A Moment Like This” and “My Life Would Suck Without You,” and has had eight consecutive top-five albums on the Billboard 200. Her most recent album, Chemistry (2023), debuted at No. 6.
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Source: Billboard
