I don’t know how the story of a usually very relatable celebrity like Kelly Clarkson having a moment after being denied a mechanical bird went so viral, although now that I’ve typed that sentence out I’m kind of seeing it. It’s the sort of outlandish premise that might come up during the episode of a sitcom, but for Ms. Clarkson and for the owners of the store Art of Play, it’s been real life this week. In fact, there’s been a lot of attention on the shop’s owner, who has done press after Clarkson stormed out of his Brooklyn-based shop, and it turns out, he’s actually kind of famous himself.
Not famous like Kelly Clarkson is famous, of course. Kelly Clarkson is so famous she’s said her kids’ friends refer to her by first and last name, a weird quirk that Kylie Kelce also said she had to break her own kids out of when Taylor Swift started dating Travis. Regardless, he’s famous in a little corner of the world where parents have read their kids Dinosaurs Love Tacos, among other fictional titles.
Who Is The Art Of Play Store Owner?
I just learned one of the store owners of Art of Play is Adam Rubin, the author of a dozen or so children’s books. He’s been publishing since 2008, but the book I know is the aforementioned Dinosaurs Love Tacos, which was published in 2012. Sequels were spawned and many a youngster still has one of Rubin's books on their shelves.
I was actually tipped off to this hot fact by a friend of mine. I live in St Louis, and Rubin went to Washington University here, so people know of him. He now lives in Brooklyn, where he co-owns Art of Play with magician co-owners Dan and Dave Buck.
Obviously, being a children’s book author is not the same thing as being a famous pop singer, former daytime television host and American Idol winner. Even if you were someone like the late Eric Carle I think you have a bit more anonymity (in general) than Kelly Clarkson does when she’s out and about. Maybe J.K. Rowling is spotted out in the wild a bit more often, but it wouldn’t be weird if you, like me, had no real knowledge of who Rubin was before his face started being splashed all over the Internet.
He’s been defending his store in the aftermath of Clarkson seemingly getting upset after she didn’t receive celebrity treatment (or allegedly even normal human treatment) at Art of Play during an incident over the weekend. She went to Instagram and Twitter to complain, and her legion of followers reportedly began doxing the shop, its neighbors and more. Influencers started showing up at Art of Play and questioning Rubin. Chaos really ensued in the aftermath, and even those close to her were surprised about what happened.
As long as no more back-and-forth happens between Clarkson and the store, this will doubtless die down in a few days, but it does go to show you how quickly one spark on the Internet can work its way into dinner conversation, coffee house conversations and even casual sideline sports game conversations. The Internet is a lot tamer in some ways than it used to be, but it’s still the Wild West.
