Art of Play co-owner Adam Rubin is taken aback by the impact of Kelly Clarkson’s critical post on his Brooklyn home store.
“Honestly, I have no experience with this. I have no idea how we move forward with it,” Rubin said in an interview with 1010 WINS on 92.3 FM on Tuesday, October 13. “I just want to say we hold no ill will against Kelly Clarkson. We invite her to come back and enjoy the store. But, we find her gross abuse of power completely reprehensible, and she should face social consequences.”
On Saturday, October 10, Clarkson, 44, first spoke out about her experience visiting Art of Play in New York.
“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,” Clarkson wrote via X. “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 👎.”
A back-and-forth proceeded with Clarkson and the store sharing their own recollection of events.
While The Voice coach hasn’t spoken out since Sunday, October 11, Rubin’s latest interview indicates her words are still having an impact.
“We have to turn the phone off,” he claimed. “A regular customer couldn’t get in touch with us if they wanted to. Superstars, they should be held responsible for yielding their power against someone who is just a normal person.”
Clarkson — who has not asked her fans to do anything to the store — has maintained that a mechanical singing bird hanging on the wall of the store had a price tag of $15,000. Rubin, however, claims the bird is not for sale.
“We work directly with these artisans. If somebody is interested, we can reach out to this artisan and talk about maybe then getting a similar version,” he claimed, recalling his exchange with the first-ever American Idol winner. “These things take years to build. They’re not sitting in a warehouse somewhere. They don’t have next-day delivery. That conversation was had. Clearly, there was some miscommunication.”
In a separate interview with USA Today, Rubin said the mechanical singing bird, which is named Molly, now has an eight-figure price tag and costs $15 million.
“We’ve raised the price due to popular demand,” he told the publication.
