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A visit to Art of Play, the Brooklyn store in an animatronic bird beef with Kelly Clarkson
By
Sonia Rao
Published Oct 13, 2026 at 3:17 p.m. ET
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Sonia Rao for Gothamist
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Sonia Rao
Published Oct 13, 2026 at 3:17 p.m. ET
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A small wooden bird named Molly is affixed to the wall of a Brooklyn games store called Art of Play. She's modeled after an American goldfinch, measures a few inches long and, when operated by a hand crank, begins to sing and dance. Molly often serves as an opening act for the magic shows that take place at the store.
Until recently, Molly was just one of several crank-operated figurines designed and crafted by Seattle artist Bliss Kolb. But now, as stated by a small printed sign spotted by Gothamist during a visit to the store on Tuesday, she might very well be “the world’s most famous singing bird automata.”
An explanation, for those blissfully unaware: On Saturday afternoon, Grammy-winning artist and talk show host Kelly Clarkson decided to swing by Art of Play, which is located on Atlantic Avenue between Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill. Clarkson shared on X shortly afterward that she had expressed interest in buying an item but “was looked at as if I couldn’t afford it,” an experience she likened to the famous shopping scene from the 1990 film “Pretty Woman.”
“Wow, dude,” she wrote that day. “You’re an idiot and just lost a huge sale.”
The post went viral — as of Tuesday afternoon, it has more than 260,000 likes — and prompted a response from Art of Play, which clarified on Instagram that Clarkson had been interested in Molly the animatronic bird: “Molly is permanently attached to the wall and isn’t for sale,” the store wrote on Sunday, adding that it was “a surreal experience to be the focus of such widespread outrage after just one mention by a celebrity.” The post concludes by quoting one of Clarkson’s hit songs: “As a talented popular singer once said, ‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.’”
Some people online expressed support for Art of Play, while others looked for proof that Clarkson was in the right. One person, for instance, zoomed in on a photo of Molly and captured the $15,000 price tag next to her, presumably contradicting the store’s claim that the bird was not for sale. Clarkson shared that image and wrote, “I love small businesses and know they are important and I always support them, but you don’t get a free pass to treat people less than in your store just because you are a small business. It’s not that hard to be kind.”
The small business responded on Instagram again, claiming that Clarkson was told that although Molly was not for sale, she could purchase an identical bird from Kolb directly. The store also offered to show her a different, German-made singing bird that she could have taken home from the store that day for $2,000.
“She did not stick around long enough to see it,” Art of Play wrote.
That added even more fuel to the fire. Strangers on the internet continued to debate whether Clarkson had abused her massive platform by calling out a small business, or if the employees were “condescending” as she said they were. The discourse even reached (semi-related) labor circles. The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union issued a statement Tuesday criticizing Clarkson’s behavior toward the Art of Play employee: “Every customer who walks into a store, especially those with massive platforms, has a responsibility to treat retail workers with basic human decency and respect,” wrote Stuart Appelbaum, the union's president.
Adam Rubin at the Art of Play on Tuesday
Sonia Rao for Gothamist
On Tuesday, Art of Play co-owner Adam Rubin told a gaggle of reporters that he and his business partners, twin magicians Dan and Dave Buck, were “afraid for the safety of our shopkeepers.” He said they had received “threatening phone calls, threatening text messages,” and that they were still being “harassed on social media.”
“Kelly Clarkson has put us in danger,” he said, adding that the threatening behavior has also been directed toward people supporting Art of Play on public platforms: “One of our friends and neighbors said something nice about us online [and] people started attacking him. They told him that they wish that his cat gets cancer.”
Clarkson’s representatives did not respond to Gothamist’s request for comment.
Rubin likened the process of purchasing a handcrafted product like Molly to buying something from a custom furniture store. These items aren’t available on demand, he said, and a shopkeeper might offer up more readily available options.
“When somebody sees something interesting and they show interest in it, we show them something similar because we think maybe they’ll be interested in that,” he said. “That’s how a shop works. It has nothing to do with [the] price.”
The current price for "Molly"
Sonia Rao for Gothamist
Which, speaking of, has exponentially increased since Molly became an overnight star: There is now a price tag next to Molly in the store that reads $15 million.
As of Tuesday, Rubin said he hadn’t heard from Clarkson or her team. He expressed some sympathy for the singer, noting that “if it’s this intense to be mentioned by Kelly Clarkson, imagine what it’s like to be Kelly Clarkson every single day.”
But still, he said, “when you have the platform, fame, money and power that she has, you can’t try to squash somebody like a bug and expect everybody to give you a pass.” He said he would now be willing to sell Molly if anyone, including Clarkson, were to come to the store and cough up $15 million. If that happened, he said, they could give $15,000 to each of Art of Play’s shopkeepers and another $1 million to Kolb, the artist. And maybe they would buy an antique automaton to replace Molly.
“You can do a lot with $15 million,” Rubin said. “Kelly Clarkson would know.”
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Sonia Rao
Sonia Rao is a culture reporter for WNYC and Gothamist. She previously covered entertainment and breaking news at The Washington Post. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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