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Updated 3 hours ago, October 14, 2026

Adam Rubin, a co-owner of Art of Play in Brooklyn, says the mechanical bird Kelly Clarkson wanted isn’t ordinary stock. Its maker, Bliss Kolb, lives in a house he built himself in the woods, isn’t on social media, and takes years to build these machines. Rubin says only 2 exist.

That’s why Rubin calls the dispute “an insane misunderstanding.” There was a price tag on the bird, which the shop calls Molly, but he says they added it only because so many people kept asking.

A serious buyer, he says, would need the shop to reach out to Kolb about commissioning an automaton, since it isn’t sitting in a warehouse. He compares it to a piece of fine-art sculpture.

Clarkson said on X on Oct. 10 that a salesperson treated her as though she couldn’t afford what she’d come to buy, likening it to Julia Roberts’ character in “Pretty Woman.” Rubin says the store was packed that day and that she was inside for less than 5 minutes. “We treated her like a normal person, but apparently that didn’t live up to her expectations,” he said.

What came after is where Rubin draws the line. “Kelly Clarkson has put us in danger,” he said. He describes threatening calls and emails, review-bombing across every platform, and hate speech popping up on the shop’s point-of-sale iPad while staff rang up customers.

People shouting accusations outside drew neighbors who called the police, and Rubin says those neighbors were then doxxed. The shop turned off its phone.

“If an actual customer tries to get in touch with us right now, they will never be able to,” he said.

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