Kelly Clarkson is not a person who is known for getting involved in a lot of public beef. In fact, when her show ended, she summed it up with one word "pivot." So, when she got into a fight with a Brooklyn small business over a pricy bird, it didn’t feel on brand for the singer. Those close to her are even surprised at how the incident with Art of Play escalated.
Insiders spoke out in a couple of ways this week, noting this type of behavior from Clarkson is rather unusual. Most of us are familiar with the celebrity we see on television, a woman who keeps it real, and who generally seems to be pretty down to Earth. Her friends say that’s her real persona, and this social media moment is the outlier, with one telling People.
She’s usually very private and public drama like this isn’t her. She’s clearly so ticked off that she couldn’t keep quiet about it. Everyone is surprised by how much this whole thing has escalated.
In a separate interview with Page Six, an insider said something similar about Clarkson's general approach to life and personality.
Kelly is seriously one of the most down to earth people you could ever meet. She’s usually chill and genuinely one of the nicest people ever.
Per both reports, what happened this week is out of character for the singer.
Many people have been following this story over the last couple of days due to the very public nature of how it has played out. First, Kelly Clarkson posted about her shopping experience in Brooklyn. She did this on multiple platforms including X (Twitter) and Instagram, and she named the store in her post. She said the store in question, Art of Play, treated her like she was in that Pretty Woman scene when Julia Roberts wore a $20 dress and didn't look nice enough to shop in expensive stores, writing, ‘But y’all should go check out Art of Play in Brooklyn if you enjoy being treated like Julia Roberts' character in Pretty Woman.”
After being blasted so publicly, Art of Play gave their version of events, but didn’t apologize, explaining they’d told Ms. Clarkson the item she wanted was not actually for sale at the time of the incident. The former daytime host then doubled down, saying Art of Play was lying about what happened, and stating the item was for sale at the time.
She allegedly even had a whole conversation with the employee about it. Here’s the Tweet:
Cool, cool. Sure, it wasn’t for sale. That’s the narrative Art of Play is gonna go with 👍 so the whole conversation we had when I asked you if it was for sale whilst pointing to the price tag hanging on the wall with the title Singing Bird didn’t happen as you elevator eyed me saying in a condescending tone “yes, it’s for sale but it costs 15,000 dollars so if you’d like me to find something comparable for you I can.” That all never happened and now it’s not for sale. Okay, cool. So you’re not only rude, you’re also a liar. Got it ✅ And by the way, I obviously support small businesses because I was literally at a small business trying to purchase things. I love small businesses and know they are important and I always support them, but you don’t get a free pass to treat people less than in your store just because you are a small business. It’s not that hard to be kind. I never blast people but you my friend were an exception. Your store is really cool. Unfortunately, you aren’t.October 11, 2026
If you’re reading this story, you are probably caught up on all the tea, and at the time of this writing Art of Play has not doubled down or re-responded. Clearly, there was some sort of miscommunication between Kelly Clarkson and the employee working at Art of Play.
Internet opinion has been divided about the response. I don’t think anyone would prefer to be talked down to or treated like they can’t shop in a store, and given Ms. Clarkson is extremely famous at this point, this type of experience probably doesn't really occur on the regular. So I’m sure whatever happened felt uncomfortable and weird.
Still, Ms. Clarkson also has a lot more cultural clout and power than a small Brooklyn business, and some feel she could have either taken up the incident privately or simply not named the store. Coloring all of this is the fact we don’t know exactly what happened. We can only hedge based on what the pop singer and the store are saying, and what both are saying is the exact opposite of one another.
Sometimes to err is human, and in this situation perhaps there are no winners. But I do hope Kelly Clarkson is able to go elsewhere to buy the mechanical bird she can so clearly afford.
