Newly released security camera footage capturing the encounter between Kelly Clarkson and a Brooklyn store employee is turning fans against the singer.
Clarkson publicly called out Art of Play, the store in question, for treating her poorly after she expressed interest in a mechanical bird sculpture, which has reportedly raised concerns for the safety of the establishment’s employees.
The new footage shared by independent journalist Pablo Torre emerges days after Kelly Clarkson’s public accusation and offers a visual into the Saturday encounter that has seen a variety of online reactions.
Security Footage Captured The Interaction, Offering A New Perspective Of How Things Unfolded
According to People Magazine, Clarkson is seen in the 4-minute, 50-second clip checking out a kaleidoscope on a shelf as she makes her way through the store.
She later approached the mechanical bird sculpture, which caught her eye, then appeared to inquire about it from one of the people in the shop, who was identified by Torre as one of the shop’s owners.
One brief conversation later, the employee points towards a different area of the shop as Clarkson reportedly sights a different item in the shop.
The “Stronger” singer later walks toward the exit before turning around to gesticulate at the shop owner as two other employees witnessed the display.
Separate external footage shows her taking out her phone as she leaves the premises. Based on the timeline of the footage, her viral social media post came just 15 minutes after the incident at the store.
The security video had no audio, so the exact words that were exchanged between the singer and members of staff remain unclear.
Kelly Clarkson Is Now Facing Heat After Initially Gaining Major Fan Support: ‘True Colors Always Reveal Themselves’
Since the release of the video footage, more fans have begun questioning Clarkson’s initial allegations, with many noting that she barely spent any time in the store before lashing out on social media.
One post on X read, “Regardless of the exchange in the store, there is little that could have been done in those couple of minutes that warranted her unleashing the hounds. Which is what she did. And she KNEW what she was doing. Her feelings got hurt. And she attacked. True colors always reveal themselves.”
Another said, “The number of grown -ss adults defending this multimillionaire’s tantrum—and worse, trying to destroy the business!—is too damn high. We need class consciousness NOW.”
“Logically, would a shop turn down a customer he barely knows? No,” another fan wrote, adding, “Logically, would a prima donna get upset about not getting royal treatment from a peasant? Yes. Proof: 15min later she would tweet how she was looked down [on]. We all get bad cs, but we go on with our lives. Not prima donnas.”
The new backlash came after Brittany Hughes, host of the “Reality Check” web series, put Clarkson on blast in a viral post on X that now has almost two million views.
After analyzing the new video, she said: “I don’t give a cr-p whether Clarkson ends up with a fake bird or how much it costs. She can have a menagerie of $20,000 parakeets, or she can whittle them herself out of sticks from her backyard; I don’t care.”
“But I do care that so many people can be instantly riled up on social media to attack a potentially innocent person or business simply because their celebrity idol tells them to,” Hughes added.
- Kelly Clarkson’s Brooklyn store feud took a shocking turn with the owners’ response.
- Clarkson looked unbothered as she made her return to the stage amid store drama.
- The Brooklyn store faced backlash after trying to counter Clarkson’s claims
- Clarkson warned about becoming a “Karen” after putting the Brooklyn store on blast.
- The singer called the toy and magic store owner a “liar” in a fiery response.
- Clarkson’s post about her experience forced the store to disable Instagram comments.
Kelly Clarkson Compared Her Treatment To That Of Julia Robert’s Character In ‘Pretty Woman’
Clarkson first made the public aware of the incident in an X post on October 10, where she described her questionable treatment at the Brooklyn shop.
“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,” her post began, according to People.
She went on to allege that she was treated as though she couldn’t afford the machine, and an employee offered to find her something “comparable” instead. “Wow, dude. You’re an idiot and just lost a huge sale,” she wrote.
Clarkson implied she wouldn’t recommend the shop after she was supposedly treated as badly as Julia Robert’s character, Vivian Ward, was in the 1990 romantic comedy “Pretty Woman.”
“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 said sarcastically.
Art of Play has since disputed her account and attempted to explain the circumstances surrounding why they couldn’t sell her the animatronic bird called Molly.
Art Of Play Called The Incident A ‘Misunderstanding’
The Brooklyn store took to Instagram on October 11 to defend themselves from Clarkson’s allegations, which they said were based on a “misunderstanding.”
As reported by the Los Angeles Times, Art of Play explained that the “one-of-a-kind singing and dancing bird automaton” at the center of the controversy was “permanently attached to the wall and isn’t for sale.”
Molly is reportedly an important mascot for the shop, which they use in close-up magic shows the establishment hosts after hours in its small theater.
The machine was created by Bliss Kolb, an artist living in Seattle, who owns an identical automaton and was willing to part with it for $15,000, all of which was supposedly explained to Clarkson.
The shop had intended to show the singer another automaton they sell to her that very day for $2000, but Clarkson left before they could show it to her.
Art of Play, in their statement, said that they had been attacked by “8 million people” following Clarkson’s post and that “It’s been a surreal experience to be the focus of such widespread outrage after just one mention by a celebrity.”
The Store Owner Raised Concerns Over Shopkeepers’ Safety After Kelly Clarkson’s Allegations
Adam Rubin, who is one of the shop’s owners, told Inside Edition that Clarkson’s social media callout put them in “danger” and that he feared for his employees’ safety.
“We are afraid for the safety of our shopkeepers. Kelly Clarkson has put us in danger,” he said, adding that the singer used her platform to attack them in what he called “social warfare.”
Rubin implied that Clarkson’s frustrations with the store were because they treated her like she was a normal person, but “that did not live up to her expectations.”