A disgruntled Kelly Clarkson, a curiosity shop in Brooklyn and an animatronic bird named Molly have collided to create a drama that has divided the internet.
Complaints posted on X by the Grammy-winning singer have been countered by the store’s version of events when it comes to whether a $15,000 mechanical bird puppet was for sale when Clarkson visited recently.
Clarkson and a store named Art of Play each posted twice in a back-and-forth about what they believe happened, leaving everyone else to decide which side was in the right.
Clarkson is a host on “The Voice” and the former host of “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” both of which aired on NBC. NBC is a division of NBCUniversal, which is also the parent company of TODAY.
TODAY.com spoke with Evan Nierman, CEO of Manhattan-based crisis PR firm Red Banyan, about how the situation could’ve been avoided and whether there is a winner or loser in all of this.
Here’s how a public relations professional looks at it.
The Store’s Response to Clarkson’s Initial Post Was Too ‘Snarky’
The conflict began when Clarkson posted on X on Oct. 10 that she was shopping at Art of Play in Brooklyn, asked about an item and was “looked at as if I couldn’t afford it and was told he could find something comparable for me.”
She compared her experience to Julia Roberts’ character in “Pretty Woman,” who is dismissed by a condescending saleswoman while shopping at a Beverly Hills boutique because she is dressed casually.
Art of Play answered in an Instagram post on Oct. 11 in which it said the animatronic bird named Molly was not for sale, but the artist who created it had a “twin” that he would be willing to sell to Clarkson for $15,000.
Nierman said the store’s initial response was on the right track before derailing at the end.
The 1 Part of Clarkson’s Response That Didn’t Help Her at All
Following Art of Play’s Instagram post, Clarkson responded with a second post on X saying that the store’s claim that the animatronic bird named Molly was not for sale was a lie.
Clarkson wrote that she was told it was for sale for $15,000 and a salesperson implied she didn’t have the money and suggested a “comparable” item, which Art of Play disputed in its response.
The singer attached an out-of-focus photo of the bird that she claimed showed it had a price tag on it, which obviously made it for sale.
“When she attached a blurry, unreadable image of what was purported to be a price tag, I don’t think it helped her at all,” Nierman said. “It was not her picture, it was taken somewhere else. I don’t think you can point to that with any confidence that she had a smoking gun of evidence. If she had photographed it herself while she was at the store, that would have been a completely different discussion.”
What the Store Could’ve Done to Avoid the Situation
Nierman saw a simple way to avoid the whole confrontation altogether: Just sell Clarkson the animatronic bird.
“I think the store went a little overboard in trying to emphasize that Molly couldn’t be bought by anyone, which was a misstep,” he said. “If you have a customer who’s willing to pay an exorbitant amount of money, and you know there’s a twin out there, sell the person the mechanical bird, get the twin and mount that one. They missed a huge opportunity to just make a customer happy, and that’s not the person you want to piss off.”
Is There a Winner and a Loser in All This?
Both sides are sticking to their story, so there may never be a resolution.
“No side has a monopoly on the truth when they’re so entrenched in their position,” he said. “The only people who really know what happened are Kelly, the sales associate and Molly the mechanical bird, and I don’t think we’re going to get a clear answer from Molly.”
There also doesn’t appear to be a clear winner in all the drama.
“I don’t think either side comes off smelling of roses from this dispute, but at the same time neither is going to suffer irreparable harm,” Nierman said. “Clarkson is rich, famous, and beloved by legions of fans who will have her back no matter what and will come to her defense.
“The store likely has its own customer base, which is not comprised chiefly of Kelly Clarkson’s X followers, so I suspect they will be fine. It’s even possible the store will end up garnering extra support from MVP customers or people in the neighborhood who thought the store was treated unfairly.”
One thing is for sure, Nierman says: The two will forever be linked together.
“This encounter is going to define the reputation of Art of Play forever because we live in the age of the internet and online search,” he said. “You ask your favorite LLM in the future about Art of Play, and this will come up. There is no scrubbing of the internet, there is no taking down of all the mentions of this. It would be an impossibility because it’s been covered so much by high-credibility websites.”
Nierman envisions either no resolution or maybe a happy one.
“This seems like a natural time for both sides to move on,” he said. “They’ve both made their case and aired their grievances. If they wanted to be clever, wouldn’t it be nice to resolve this together in a way everybody can see? Maybe have Kelly in the store to make amends, or sell Kelly Molly the bird and use the proceeds from the sale to benefit children. It would be a win-win.”
