Is it such a shame to be Pretty Woman-ed? Maybe as a celebrity who is known to have the money to afford probably whatever she wanted, it is.
This dispute between singer Kelly Clarkson and Brooklyn small business Art of Play began when Clarkson shared on X (formerly Twitter) detailing her horrible shopping experience. Clarkson shared in her post, “… 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.”
What captured the attention of many fans was the accusation that she had been Pretty Woman-ed. If you don’t know what that means, Julia Roberts’ character in the movie Pretty Woman enters a boutique in hopes of buying high-end fashion pieces, but in turn is shooed away when the saleswoman judges her low-effort appearance.
Clarkson claims she had the same experience when visiting Art of Play, which made some members of X uncomfortable. When I first saw this post, it was because of comments stating they did not like the way this was handled—that throwing a small business to her millions of fans, to be attacked, was not okay.
And indeed, that’s what her fans did. Taking to Google Reviews, they filled the forms with classic accusations and low-rated stars as a clapback to how they mistreated Clarkson. Although I have spotted a few reviews in retaliation against fans that gave the business five stars, such as a review stating, “Wonderful place. Kelly just feels entitled…”
Art of Play has come forward with their own statement on Instagram, in which they state Clarkson came in to buy “Molly,” an animatronic bird that sings and dances, but she was turned away because Molly was not for sale and actually the store’s mascot. They made sure to include that Clarkson’s hate train has been felt, stating “Imagine our surprise when our small local business was suddenly attacked by 8 million people who 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.”
Clarkson wasn’t ready to admit defeat when she came forward to call them “liars.” In another post on X, Clarkson recounts the conversation she had: “so the whole conversation we had when I asked you if it was for sale whilst pointing to the price tag hanging on the wall … as you elevator-eyed me saying in a condescending tone ‘yes, it’s for sale but it costs 15,000 dollars so if you’d like me to find something comparable for you I can.’ That all never happened and now it’s not for sale. Okay, cool. So you’re not only rude, you’re also a liar.”
On Sunday, Art of Play released “one additional detail” to Instagram. Clarkson was offered a similar version of the bird that she could openly buy from the artist who made it, and was offered another singing bird that sells cheaper, but “did not stick around long enough to see it.”
As of Tuesday, Co-owner Adam Rubin spoke to reporters outside the Atlantic Avenue shop and announced that Molly was now technically “for sale” for $15 million. Rubin also informed reporters that the backlash and threats have flooded their emails, phones, and physical location.
Each party has responded and it seems there will be no satisfying Clarkson, so the best effort is to let this die and become old news.