The truth behind the Kelly Clarkson vs. Art Of Play feud

We may never know what really happened at the Art of Play store in Brooklyn with Kelly Clarkson and the now infamous automaton bird named Molly. So far, no videos, no witnesses.

One thing I know is that if you look at Clarkson's X account, all she talks about is her tours and albums. She never takes a shot at anybody there and I don't know if she ever has.

So this was a real special occasion.

People are picking apart this incident, which we only know about second hand, like it's a turkey at Thanksgiving. One thing I can say for sure: the optics of Art of Play's responses were mostly terrible. They didn't take any responsibility and instead positioned it as if they didn't deserve to get their feelings hurt while touting the greatness of the store. I don't know if the store owners decided to take the crisis PR into their own hands or solicit advice from somebody else who may not have had the skills to handle this suddent outburst. Clearly, they were over their heads. It is entirely possible that people may look at this as the big celebrity using the power of social media to "punch down" on the gift shop, and the wording certainly encourages that position. When you are a talk show host/singer who has been beloved by the public since debuting on "American Idol" in 2002, the court of public opinion is automatically in your favor. The verdict was in almost immediately. I watched a TikTok clip of a man going into the store and demanding the staff take him to the owners. The sympathy outpouring has been over the top. The only way for a little guy like Art Of Play to take the air out of that balloon is to produce a security video that demonstrates they handled Clarkson correctly. That has not materialized yet. Yelp has turned off new reviews for the store. Google hasn't published a new review in two weeks. At this point, barring them producing a smoking gun, Art Of Play should gather its legion of fans together and organize events to sway public opinion and perhaps make Clarkson realize she wields a bigger club than she may have thought.