As you doubtless have already heard, "American Idol" Season 1 champion, singer of "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)," the woman some are calling our greatest living vocalist, Miss Kelly Clarkson herself is publicly beefing with a pricy toy store on Atlantic Avenue.
For accuracy and posterity, we will reproduce Clarkson's initial complaint in its entirety here:
"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 👎," Clarkson wrote on X on Saturday.
The primary thing Clarkson wanted to purchase: an astonishingly realistic mechanical bird named Molly, operated by a hand crank, that is apparently the pride and joy of Art of Play, a Brooklyn Heights store described on its own website as "a bubble of wonder," with a "unique collection of magical home goods, puzzles, games, toys and books" that "has been called one of the most beautiful shops in New York City" and also hosts magic shows.
The resulting backlash towards the store sparked a flurry of explainer articles and volley of social media statements between Clarkson and the owners of Art of Play, who issued a statement on Sunday, the day after Clarkson's X post went viral.
"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," the store wrote in a statement on Instagram. "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."
The store refuted Clarkson's claims that she'd been treated rudely, and charged Clarkson with inciting "widespread outrage" from "8 million people who have never visited our store." Then, somewhat bafflingly, the statement closed on a line from Clarkson's 2011 smash hit: "We're going to keep our heads down and hopefully, we can clear things up with Kelly someday. As a talented popular singer once said 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.'"
Did things end there? They certainly did not. Clarkson caught backlash for being entitled and trying to take down a small business using her celebrity and vast social media platform; Art of Play was blasted by Clarkson fans as snobbish and elitist and had to shut off their Instagram comments.
But here is where things get awesome, because these Art of Play folks are not themselves totally innocent of caddish behavior.