The Brooklyn shop owner embroiled in a dispute with Kelly Clarkson says the singer delivered a final outburst as she left his store, shouting at employees and declaring she would “never return” before taking her complaint online.
Adam Rubin, 43, told the Daily Mail on Tuesday that he should have been recovering after surgery to remove skin cancer. Instead, he rushed to his Art of Play store in Brooklyn to manage the fallout from the singer’s weekend tirade.
The dispute began Saturday when Clarkson took to social media to criticize the art and magic shop. She claimed staff had assumed she “couldn’t afford” Molly, the mechanical bird displayed prominently behind the cashier.
The store maintains that Molly was never available for purchase.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Rubin has now offered further details about the public clash.
He also expressed regret that the controversy had put his store in the spotlight—and made it a target for Clarkson’s supporters.
“None of us are supposed to be here today, especially me. I got a cancer removed from my face last week. I’m getting the stitches removed tonight.
“But we are afraid for the safety of our shopkeepers.”
Businessman Adam Rubin, whose Brooklyn curiosity shop Art of Play was criticized by singer Kelly Clarkson after staff declined to sell her a $15,000 ornamental bird called Molly on Saturday. Molly is pictured on the wall behind Rubin.
Rubin has been receiving treatment for skin cancer and said Clarkson’s outburst has placed his staff at risk.
Clarkson, 44, became furious on X on Saturday after an employee at the curiosity shop refused to sell her Molly, a mechanical bird ornament mounted on one of the store’s walls.
The American Idol winner compared the experience with that of Vivian Ward, the fictional sex worker played by Julia Roberts in the 1990 romantic comedy Pretty Woman. In the film, Ward is thrown out of a Beverly Hills designer boutique because of her revealing clothing.
Clarkson wrote: “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. But y’all should go check out Art of Play in Brooklyn if you enjoy being treated like Julia Roberts’ character in Pretty Woman.”
A $15,000 price tag had long been displayed beside Molly on the shop wall.
Some of Clarkson’s supporters suggested the visible price may have fueled her frustration, particularly because she was then told the bird was not available to buy.
Art of Play had previously explained that the price referred to an identical ornament that was not on display in the store.
Rubin reiterated on Tuesday that Molly was not for sale, despite the price tag. Following the controversy, the label was changed to describe the mechanical bird as “the world’s most famous singing bird automata!”
Clarkson posted on X on Saturday, saying her experience at Art of Play had made her feel like Vivian Ward, the character played by Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.
In one memorable scene from the 1990 romantic comedy, Roberts’ character is removed from an upscale Beverly Hills boutique because of her revealing outfit.
Molly is seen on display at Art of Play on Tuesday. Confusingly, a $15,000 price tag has long been affixed to the wall next to her
That price tag has since been updated to reflect Molly’s newfound fame. Art of Play staff insisted Molly was not for sale despite the price tag and said they’d have been happy to direct Clarkson to the artist behind the ornament should she wish to commission her own
Art of Play previously insisted they’d have been happy to direct Clarkson to Molly’s Seattle-based creator Bliss Kolb if she wished to commission a similar ornament.
Rubin told the Daily Mail on Tuesday that he blames Clarkson for the chaos that has engulfed his business since and said the talk show host knew exactly what she was doing when she put him ‘on blast.’
‘Kelly Clarkson has put us in danger,’ Rubin said. ‘We have gotten threatening phone calls, threatening text messages.
‘We’ve been review-bombed. We’re getting harassed on social media.
‘People are showing up and screaming outside of the shop. Our neighbors are getting doxed.
‘Somebody posted something in support of us online and they’re getting attacked by trolls.
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‘We had no idea this could happen, but here’s the thing: Kelly Clarkson did, and she chose to do it anyway.’
Rubin suggested Clarkson’s behavior smacked of entitlement and that she had turned an ‘enormous misunderstanding’ into a ‘reprehensible abuse of power’ with her social media flameout.
Art of Play sits in Brooklyn and has been backed by locals who love the store and its staff
‘When you have the platform, fame, money, and power that she has, you can’t just try to squash somebody like a bug and expect everybody to give you a pass,’ Rubin added.
The store owner, who also writes children’s books, went on to accuse Clarkson of showing a flash of diva-like behavior as she exited his store at the weekend.
He said she ‘yelled at the shopkeeper on her way out the door.’
‘As she was leaving, she said, “You know, I’m never coming here again.”,’ he went on.
Locals have rushed to back Rubin in the wake of the storm, with multiple Brooklyn-ites telling the Daily Mail on Monday that they stood firmly behind him and his business.
One said, who asked not to be named, said: ‘I mean, it actually could not have happened to nicer people. I’ve been coming here for years. I’m friends with the owners.
‘The whole thing is ridiculous, and for a celebrity to weaponize her platform of 8 million people on Instagram, 8 million on Twitter, to a tiny, little, independently owned store, owned and run by magicians.’
Clarkson posted this rant to X on Saturday afternoon, with Art of Play quickly engulfed by criticism as a result
Art of Play later took to Instagram to condemn Clarkson and insist that Molly was not for sale
An irate Clarkson responded to Art of Play, insisting that she was right to be annoyed and maintaining that she is a staunch supporter of small businesses
Online sleuths quickly spotted the price tag next to Molly – and questioned whether Clarkson’s anger had actually been justified
Rubin said his staff are ‘rattled,’ but also bemused that Molly has become the unexpected star of Clarkson’s online meltdown.
The bird is usually the centerpiece of magic theatre shows laid on by the store.
He joked that Molly’s value has increased one-thousand-fold in the wake of Clarkson’s meltdown.
‘She is currently, and probably for the rest of time, the most famous automaton in the world.
‘I think what we would do is…maybe if somebody buys her for $15 million, we’ll give $15,000 to all the shopkeepers.
‘Give Bliss a million dollars. Build a little case. Buy some old antique automaton.
‘You can do a lot of you can do a lot with $15m.
‘Kelly Clarkson would know.’
Clarkson shot to stardom after winning the first season of American Idol in 2002.
She enjoyed a successful singing career, with hits including Miss Independent and Since U Been Gone.
She launched a successful talk show on NBC in 2019, with The Kelly Clarkson Show ending in August 2026, so she could spend more time with her family.
Clarkson was married to talent manager Brandon Blackstock between 2013 and 2022.
Blackstock, who was the father of Clarkson’s children, died of skin cancer aged just 48 in August 2025.
The Daily Mail has contacted a representative of Kelly Clarkson for comment.