Kelly Clarkson and a Brooklyn Novelty Shop Are Feuding Over a $15,000 Singing Bird

Kelly Clarkson is in a public dispute with a Brooklyn novelty shop after she said an employee sized her up as unable to afford a $15,000 mechanical bird on display inside the store.

The singer posted on social media that she had gone to Art of Play, a shop known for puzzles, magic props and mechanical curiosities, intending to buy something. She said she pointed to a price tag reading "Singing Bird" on the wall and asked if it was available, and that an employee looked her up and down before confirming it was for sale at $15,000.

Art of Play disputes that account. The store says Clarkson had asked about "Molly," a one-of-a-kind singing and dancing bird automaton that is permanently mounted to the wall and used in the shop's in-store magic performances — not an item for sale. The store said it offered Clarkson a "nearly identical" bird available directly from its designer, as well as a $2,000 German-made singing-bird automaton she could have taken home that day, but that she left before seeing it.

Surveillance video the store later released shows Clarkson browsing the shop, testing a kaleidoscope and examining the wall-mounted bird, though it does not settle the dispute over what was said at the counter. The back-and-forth has drawn wide attention online, with some siding with Clarkson over how the exchange made her feel and others siding with the store's account that the bird was a fixture, not a sign of misjudging a customer's wallet.