Kelly Clarkson’s dispute with a New York curiosity shop continues to unfold, but it is not the first time the singer’s taste for expensive purchases has landed her in difficulty.
Her social media complaint on Saturday about the way she was treated at Brooklyn’s Art of Play store, after trying to buy an £11,000 singing bird, has been viewed by more than 40 million people.
In 2012, the American Idol winner—whose fortune is estimated at £45 million—spent £152,450 on a ring once owned by Jane Austen, only to be prevented from taking it home to the United States.
Clarkson is a self-confessed Austen enthusiast and already owned a first edition of Persuasion when she noticed the author’s gold-and-turquoise ring being offered at auction by Sotheby’s in London.
She outbid eight other buyers, paying five times the ring’s estimate to secure it. However, before she could remove the item from Britain, the country’s then-culture minister, Ed Vaizey, imposed an export ban.
The purchase was subsequently placed in the hands of an Arts Council England committee, which oversees the export of objects considered to be national treasures.
In 2012, Kelly Clarkson paid £152,450 for a ring once owned by Jane Austen, but was barred from taking it to the US. She is pictured wearing a replica in 2013.
The temporary export restriction gave Jane Austen’s House Museum in Chawton, Hampshire, time to launch its “Bring the Ring Home” campaign.
Contributions poured in from around the world, including an anonymous £100,000 donation that matched the amount paid by the American singer.
The fundraising effort enabled the museum to acquire the ring. It remains on display there alongside the only two other surviving pieces of jewellery known to have belonged to Austen.
Clarkson, who ultimately had to settle for a replica, responded graciously. At the time, she said she was “happy to know that so many Jane Austen fans will get to see” the ring, describing it as a “beautiful national treasure”.
A decade later, it was a mechanical singing bird that captured Clarkson’s attention during a shopping trip in her home city of New York on Saturday.
In a post that quickly went viral, Clarkson alleged that a staff member at Brooklyn’s Art of Play boutique treated her as though she could not afford the store’s products. She compared the experience to a well-known scene from Pretty Woman.
The singer had initially written online that she had “driven all the way to Brooklyn” to visit the shop and had “a few things in mind to buy”.
But after arriving, she said she was “looked at as if I couldn’t afford it”.
Kelly Clarkson’s social media complaint about her treatment at Art of Play, after she tried to buy an £11,000 singing bird, has been viewed by more than 40 million people. The bird is pictured.
“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,” she wrote.
“Wow, dude. You’re an idiot and just lost a huge sale.”
Clarkson then invoked the 1990 film Pretty Woman, in which Julia Roberts plays a sex worker who is dismissively turned away from an upscale shop in one of the movie’s most famous scenes.
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“But y’all should go check out Art of Play in Brooklyn if you enjoy being treated like Julia Roberts’ character in Pretty Woman,” she wrote, ending the post with a thumbs-down emoji.
Fans turned out in their droves to reply with supportive comments, while targeting the shop in the comments section of its social media accounts.
The store has also been flooded with numerous one-star Google reviews, pushing its previous 5-star rating to a 3.7 average.
On Tuesday, the store’s security footage was released. Obtained by journalist Pablo Torre, Kelly is seen walking into the store wearing a grey baseball hat, yellow t-shirt, baggy blue jeans and a backpack, before browsing various items.
The American Idol winner, who was in the shop for only four minutes and 50 seconds, then approaches the mechanical bird and appears to speak with a shopkeeper, the same employee who she later called an ‘idiot’ in her online rant.
He seems to point something out to Kelly, before they walk in opposite directions. The shopkeeper later appears to point out something else while looking back at her, but she has her back turned.
Kelly is then seen returning an item she had seemingly considered buying to the shelf, before appearing to voice her complaints about the shopkeeper to a busy cashier while gesticulating with her arms and leaving the store.
Torre noted that Kelly was dressed similarly to other shoppers, suggesting she was not singled out because of her appearance, as she had previously appeared to claim.
The Brooklyn storeowner at the center of the feud with Kelly said the pop diva issued a parting shot on her way out of the shop, screaming at staff and vowing ‘never to return’ before taking her gripe to the internet.
Join the discussion
Was Kelly Clarkson justified in publicly criticising the Brooklyn shop, or has her complaint caused unnecessary trouble for a small business?
In her viral tweet on Saturday Kelly claimed a member of staff at Brooklyn’s Art of Play boutique treated her as though she was unable to afford their products
The store has also been flooded with numerous one-star Google reviews, pushing its previous 5-star rating to a 3.7 average
Adam Rubin, 43, told the Daily Mail Tuesday that he was supposed to be recovering from skin cancer removal surgery – but that he had to race to his Art of Play store in Brooklyn to deal with the fallout triggered by the singer’s weekend meltdown.
The store had earlier explained in social media posts that Kelly inquired about a not-for-sale item, its store mascot Molly, a singing and dancing bird which is used in magic shows hosted in a small theatre at the back of the store.
‘Molly is permanently attached to the wall and isn’t for sale. However, the negative experience Kelly described on twitter would resonate with anyone who has ever felt judged in a shop.
‘Imagine our surprise when our small local business was suddenly attacked by 8 million people who have never visited our store. It’s been a surreal experience to be the focus of such widespread outrage after just one mention by a celebrity.’
The store thanked ‘friends for their support’ adding a welcome ‘to all the curious folks who have discovered us amidst the drama’.
Shortly afterwards Kelly doubled down, claiming in another post on social media on Sunday evening that the store was ‘lying’ about the bird not being for sale and insisting she has always been a supporter of small businesses.