The saga involving Kelly Clarkson and Brooklyn-based novelty shop Art of Play has taken some interesting turns, as it’s played out in recent weeks. It all began when the singer entered the establishment and reportedly wanted to buy a singing bird automaton. Clarkson then took to social media to say that she was denied the chance to purchase the bird, though management later refuted that claim, saying the bird wasn’t for sale. That aside, though, it seems the bird’s original artist, Bliss Kolb, is now receiving a lot of requests.
Clarkson specifically wanted to buy an animatronic bird named Molly and was taken aback when she was allegedly treated as though she couldn’t afford it. While store owner Adam Rubin and co., said the bird was exclusively used at Art of Play for events, Clarkson responded by sharing a photo of the bird with a $15,000 price tag (which has been swapped to $15 million as a joke by the staff). The Wall Street Journal now reports Kolb has received roughly 100 commissions since Clarkson visited AoP on October 10.
What’s ironic is that this all comes at a time at which Kolb – who’s based in Seattle – had planned to cut down on the number of requests. However, he may be looking to create a few more of the singing automatons down the road. If that happens, the items could reportedly range between $4,000 and $15,000. Kolb seems to be taking the hype all in stride, however and, when she spoke to WSJ, she said she appreciated that Kelly Clarkson “liked” her work. This represents a more positive side of a story that’s seemingly had negative implications.
After Clarkson’s visit to Art of Play, security footage was obtained by Pablo Torre (who bought a second automaton) and provided a better look at how things went down. The “Breakaway” performer seemed displeased with her interactions with the store’s staff at the time. Clarkson subsequently asserted that she’d been treated like Julia Roberts’ character in Pretty Woman and, since then, a number of fans and celebrities have come to her defense. Per reports, AoP has been feeling the effects of that support in a not-so-positive way.
Sources have alleged that since American Idol’s inaugural winner came to the shop, AoP has been lambasted by Clarkson fans. It’s also been said that amid the social media “hatred,” Adam Rubin has reportedly been trying to get in touch with Clarkson to talk things out. At the same time, some locals have been defending the store and have been met with backlash on social media as well.
Those within Clarkson’s inner circle claim she’s “happy” amid the blowback and “doesn’t think she did anything wrong.” On top of that, it’s been claimed that Clarkson is “living in a bubble of applause” because no one is apparently disputing the notion of her having done anything incorrect. Still, other insiders claim people close to Clarkson are surprised by how this situation has escalated.
It’s fair to say Bliss Kolb finds herself in a very interesting position, given that her work is at the center of this back-and-forth between Kelly Clarkson and Art of Play. Whether Kolb will actually produce more of those bird automatons is unclear, but it seems she stands to make a sizable amount of money if she can fulfill some requests.
