Kelly Clarkson's Posts About a Brooklyn Shop Led to Threats Against Its Workers. Words Are Fire.
After Kelly Clarkson blasted Brooklyn shop Art of Play over a mechanical bird, co-owner Adam Rubin says his staff has faced threats and harassment from her fans.
A complaint about a mechanical bird has turned into threats against the workers of a small Brooklyn shop. The owner of Art of Play says singer and talk-show host Kelly Clarkson set it off with a few posts on X. The story is a small one. The lesson in it is not.
What happened
Clarkson posted over the weekend that she went into Art of Play, a shop for puzzles, games and curiosities on Atlantic Avenue, to ask about buying "Molly," a one-of-a-kind mechanical bird with a $15,000 price tag, The Hill reported. She said she "literally was looked at as if I couldn't afford it" and was told a staff member could find something comparable.
"Wow, dude. You're an idiot and just lost a huge sale," she wrote, according to The Hill. She told her followers to visit the store "if you enjoy being treated like Julia Roberts character in Pretty Woman."
The shop answered on Instagram. It said Molly "is permanently attached to the wall and isn't for sale," and that an employee had offered Clarkson "Molly's twin for $15,000" and a $2,000 alternative, but she "did not stick around long enough to see it."
Clarkson then posted again. "Sure, it wasn't for sale. That's the narrative Art of Play is gonna go with," she wrote, describing being "elevator eyed" by an employee. "So you're not only rude, you're also a liar. Got it."
What followed
Clarkson has nearly 9 million followers, Rolling Stone reported. Co-owner Adam Rubin told the magazine that the attention brought threatening phone calls, abusive direct messages, review bombing, influencers filming inside the store and abuse aimed at employees and passersby. In one incident, he said, police had to be called.
"We are legitimately worried about the safety of our shop keepers," Rubin told TMZ, according to The Hill, which reported that employees were allegedly receiving death threats. "Kelly Clarkson has put us all in danger and has used her platform to try and squash this like a bug."
"Kelly Clarkson knew that she was lighting that fuse when she decided to use her fame and wealth on a public platform to try to destroy our business," Rubin told Rolling Stone. "She chose to do it anyway."
Rubin, the author of the children's book "Dragons Love Tacos," told reporters he has raised Molly's price to $15 million, which Rolling Stone took to be sarcasm. He also said neighbors have dropped off pastries and notes of support, and that he would "absolutely" welcome Clarkson back. Neither Rolling Stone nor The Hill reported a response from Clarkson to the threats.
Small sparks, big fires
No one outside that shop knows exactly what was said at the counter. Clarkson may well have been treated rudely. Store clerks are not always gracious, and being talked down to stings. She had every right to walk out and shop somewhere else.
But what she did instead was call a store worker an "idiot" and a "liar" in front of millions of people, and point her followers at the store's door. People with large platforms know, or should know, what happens next. Strangers decide they are part of the fight, and the people who pay are the shop's workers.
The fans who sent threats bear responsibility for their own sin. Nobody made them pick up the phone. Still, Scripture is direct about the power of a few careless words. "Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!" James wrote. "And the tongue is a fire" (James 3:5-6). A few words on a roadside sign can preach a sermon. A few words on a phone can burn down a small business.
Jesus gave a better way to handle being wronged: "Go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone" (Matthew 18:15). Go to the person first, privately. That rule was given for disputes among believers, but its wisdom fits anyone. A call to the store's owner might have settled this quietly.
There is a lesson for the rest of us, too. Most of us do not have 9 million followers, but we have a group chat, a review page and a neighborhood forum. Before we post the angry review or join a pile-on over a story we only half know, we should ask whether we have talked to the person, and whether we would say it to his face.
Clarkson can still end this well. A public word asking her fans to leave the shop's workers alone would cost her nothing and would do some good.
Hero photo: Evan Semón/U.S. Department of Defense via Wikimedia Commons, public domain (U.S. government work), cropped and resized.
