A small curiosity shop tucked into Brooklyn Heights found itself at the center of a viral firestorm this week after singer Kelly Clarkson accused its staff of dismissive, Pretty Woman-style treatment during a visit over a $15,000 mechanical singing bird. Within a day, the shop's Yelp page was flooded with negative reviews from people who had likely never set foot inside.
The dispute centers on Art of Play, a shop and hidden 26-seat magic theater at 69 Atlantic Avenue, according to Time Out. Its Brooklyn storefront opened in November 2024. The business was founded in 2013 by twin brothers and cardistry pioneers Dan and Dave Buck and is co-operated in Brooklyn alongside children's author Adam Rubin, per Primetimer.
According to TMZ, Clarkson said she traveled to the store intending to buy multiple items and tried to purchase a singing bird sculpture she was told cost $15,000, only for the owner to later claim it wasn't for sale after all. She said the owner instead offered to find her something comparable, an offer she felt was condescending given her original shopping plans. Clarkson went on to call the owner a liar over the conflicting explanations, per the outlet.
Clarkson's Pretty Woman Comparison
Per TMZ, Clarkson said she supports small businesses and was shopping at one during the alleged incident, but argued that small businesses should not get a free pass to treat customers poorly. She described the Brooklyn store as cool but said its owner was not, and compared the moment to Julia Roberts's character being snubbed by Rodeo Drive sales clerks in Pretty Woman, per the same outlet.
Clarkson's initial post on X on Saturday accusing the shop of condescending treatment drew widespread attention, according to the Daily Beast. That attention turned what might have been a routine customer complaint into a reputational crisis for a single Brooklyn Heights storefront almost overnight.
Who Is Molly, the Singing Bird
At the center of the clash is an automaton named Molly, a mechanical bird sculpture created by Seattle artist Bliss Kolb that uses leather bellows and a brass whistle to imitate birdsong, according to the shop's Instagram account, @69atlantic
. Art of Play said Kolb flew across the country to tune up Molly in February 2025, per the same account. The shop maintains that Molly was never for sale and that the automaton was permanently attached to the wall and used during its magic shows.
In its initial public statement posted to Instagram on Sunday, Art of Play said the bird was fixed to the wall for its performances and closed the post by quoting Clarkson's own 2011 hit, “Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You),” the Daily Beast reported. The shop said it was caught off guard by backlash from millions of people who had never visited the store.
Dueling Accounts of the Sales Pitch
A follow-up statement from Art of Play on Monday offered more detail, claiming that while Molly itself was not for sale, staff had offered to connect Clarkson with Kolb to commission a near-identical bird for $15,000, or to show her a $2,000 German clockwork alternative before she left the store, according to the Daily Beast. Clarkson disputed that timeline and maintained she was given a condescending pitch rather than a serious sales conversation.
Clarkson pushed back further on Sunday, posting a photograph showing a $15,000 price tag labeled “Singing Bird” mounted on the wall next to the automaton, as reported by Complex. The image appeared to directly contradict the shop's claim that the piece carried no retail sales tag, fueling further doubt about the store's account among her followers.
A Yelp Page Overrun Overnight
The fallout reached review platforms, where supporters left negative reviews on Yelp and Facebook.
Before issuing its formal statement, the shop had briefly posted and then removed an Instagram Story featuring a positive customer review that praised staff's “genuine kindness,” according to Us Weekly. The quick removal suggested a business scrambling to find the right tone as the story spread far beyond its five-minute origin inside the shop.
The building itself carries its own layer of local history. The 69 Atlantic Avenue storefront sits within the Brooklyn Heights Historic District and received approval from the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission last year for facade restoration and historic neon signage, aligning it with the neighboring commercial storefronts that define the historic strip.
