ADDED:
AND: Here's the bird that started it all:“Kelly Clarkson has put us all in danger” might be the most unintentionally funny sentence in the history of mankind.
— smootoshi (@adamsmoot) October 13, 2026
I’ve been to Art of Play many times for magic shows, and Molly the purely mechanical bird is really cool. Here’s a video I shot last year. I can see why Kelly Clarkson would want to buy it. But also, Kelly Clarkson + Art of Play’s Molly is so random a collision that I’m upgrading my belief in the simulation hypothesis
— Eugene Wei (@eugenewei) October 12, 2026
Posts
53 comments:
Fortunately, AI was available to explain in brief what this "Kelly Clarkson Bird Feud: Art of Play" is about. Turns out, I don't care
Brains! The living dead vibe. Grandpa, chill.
My guess is that it was Clarkson's accent. Everybody knows that inbred Southern cousin-humpers ain't got no money. Seriously, the guy heard her accent, decided she was just some tourist that was wasting his time and he blew her off so that he could help people that would actually spend some money.
The outrage model of advertising continues proving its critics wrong.
Grandpa has murder on his mind. Caw!
I don't know who Kelly Clarkson is, but it would appear she's no longer sitting in the catbird's seat.
Kelly: "Do you know who I am?" A case study of the Streisand Effect. The store owner is milking it for all it's worth.
Grandpa, what big eyes you have.
That bird is incredible. I confess I'm out of touch and have no idea who Karen Clark is.
Big and Small quote: “…and the global community here in Brooklyn…”
I don't know why she expected a store clerk to be interested in selling. My experience is that they are putting in the time till they can pick up their phone and get on with life. That is, if they even have put their phone down. And, note that when they see her on their phones, they take that very seriously. "Shopper, go away." Shopper goes away and posts. "Omigod, shopper is talking about us and I see it on my phone. Yikes. We're real and in danger."
Clarkson is a singer and talk show host but that’s not important. What is important is what is Trump’s take on this fiasco? The world needs to know which side to back. Because we’re all in danger.
That's the Standard thing for liberal/leftists. And trust me that's what he is. If he was a woman, he'd be blathering about "rape threats".
She went to this guys store and didn't like the way she was treated. She tweeted about it. Now, he's crying and playing the victim because that's 21st century USA. Instead of despising whiners and "They hate me because im x", we celebrate them. Guess that's feminization of society. Or maybe Americans have always been this gutless.
Whatever. You can look at playing cards Art of Play sells at easytot.com. I’ve always liked looking at unique decks of cards. Wouldn’t play poker with them but enjoy them nevertheless.
If you bought this, how many times could you have it play before you'd smash it to bits. Or more likely, just stick it in a closet or an unused room.
You could also have someone build you one. With modern materials it'd probably be better. Might cost more than 15K though.
I guess he's not Jewish. Otherwise, he'd be claiming clarkson was "anti-semitic".
Actually ArtofPlay.com They have their own website. Very cool.
Clarkson should know that her public complaint could be devastating to a small business. Punching down. Not a good look Kelly.
The most interesting person in this story is the mysterious Bliss Kolb, creator of the bird.
https://blisskolb.com/
Art of Play now has the bird listed for $15 million.
"Clarkson should know that her public complaint could be devastating to a small business. Punching down. Not a good look Kelly."
A shop that sells $15,000 mechanical birds has a clientele that does not know, or care, who the hell Kelly Clarkson is. They'll be fine.
As you'd expect from NYC hipster art business, the owner is an obnoxious whiner. So good for Clarkson. Don't like the heat, stay outta the kitchen.
"Clarkson posted a photo of a $15,000 price tag next to the bird. She argued that this showed the bird was for sale.
Rubin said the tag did not refer to Molly. He said it showed the cost of ordering a custom bird from Kolb. The store said Molly is permanently attached to the wall and is not for sale, and that it offered to show Clarkson a different singing bird by another artist priced at $2,000.
After the controversy spread, Rubin said the store listed Molly for $15 million. He said the move reflects how much attention the bird has drawn. He told USA TODAY he would give each employee $15,000 and pay Kolb $1 million if anyone bought it.
Rubin said the rest would go toward antique automatons in a glass display marked "Not for sale." The listing has not been reported to have drawn a buyer."
https://www.ibtimes.sg/who-bliss-kolb-meet-artist-behind-kelly-clarksons-viral-bird-95111
Not much came up about Kolb on an ordinary search, not even if the artist was a man or woman, so I asked Grok for personal and biographic info about the artist. Very interesting guy. Keeps a low profile.
"Rubin said the tag did not refer to Molly. He said it showed the cost of ordering a custom bird from Kolb. The store said Molly is permanently attached to the wall and is not for sale, and that it offered to show Clarkson a different singing bird by another artist priced at $2,000."
So, they didn't offer her the opportunity to order a custom bird from Kolb? Instead they tried to sell her a $2000 dollar bird instead of a $15,000 bird? How does that make sense unless you think the customer can't afford the higher priced bird?
“He said it showed the cost of ordering a custom bird from Kolb”
…that’s messed up, implying the store sells opportunities to order birds from the maker. There’s some classic Brooklyn commie bullshit going one with the owner and we’ll never hear about it. They don't deserve death threats but likely all the shit being sent their way…
Sad that we immediately let We the People off the hook in these incidents.
"Of course people are going to track down the phone number and call (LATEST TARGET OF DERISION) and harass them. That's to be expected. If you don't want to be harassed by strangers, don't anger someone with a large social media following."
…there’s lots of people new to commerce that believe they can reinvent the rules, then are shocked there’s pushback…
Next time, tell Clarkson that if she has to ask the price she can’t possibly afford it.
Does it matter that I don't care about this at all?
I checked out the artofplay.com website. There are much cheaper tchotchkes, but when you are selling this sort of thing for $2500 you are catering to an exclusive clientele, not hillbilly tourists.
https://www.artofplay.com/products/flipbook-machine?_pos=21&_fid=191d454bf&_ss=c
It turns out that Clarkson is from Texas, so she is most definitely not a hillbilly. She is a redneck.
“Next time, tell Clarkson that if she has to ask the price she can’t possibly afford it.”
Say it through clinched teeth.
"things we will forget about in 15 minutes"
The least interesting person(s) in this contretemps are the Kelly Clarkson "fans" who feel so personally aggrieved by this perceived slight that they feel empowered to do what the man claims happened.
Threats? Really? Jeezus, get a life.
A tweet so great I had to repeat it:
"It’s so relatable. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve been Pretty Womaned trying to buy a $15k elaborate mechanical automata bird."
"There’s some classic Brooklyn commie bullshit going one with the owner and we’ll never hear about it. They don't deserve death threats but likely all the shit being sent their way"
Quite literally fully automated avian luxury communism.
I see that the first battles in the war have already taken place.
"Art of Play’s Yelp page has been flooded with 1-star and 5-star reviews since the drama bubbled over, with people taking sides in support of Clarkson or the store."
At the blisskolb.com site there’s this quote:
“Without the voice of le Maure and Vaucanson’s duck, you would have nothing to remind you of the glory of France” - Voltaire.
“Catherine-Nicole Le Maure was an opera singer.
Vaucanson was best known for his lifelike automata.
Voltaire wrote it in 1741: ‘sans la voix de la le Maure, & le canard de Vaucanson, vous n’auriez rien qui fit ressouvenir de la gloire de la France’.The joke is in the pairing. He puts France’s finest voice next to Jacques de Vaucanson’s mechanical ‘Digesting Duck’. That was a famous automaton that seemed to eat grain and then excrete it. In fact, the droppings were breadcrumb pellets dyed green and stored inside. Some modern writers translate the line more bluntly as ‘the shitting duck’.” (Perplexity)
It amuses me that Vaucanson put so much effort in making a shitting duck.
Is this like the time Oprah was in some European country and she said a store wouldn't show her a handbag because they thought she couldn't afford it?
And why should I care about this? Just wasted three minutes of precious time.
Lefty vs. Left… oh no!
Anyway…
Wella wella wella everybody’s heard about the bird
Poppa oo muh muh muh muh a mau mau
Funny tweet over there: @kellyclarkson calls out Goddess Athena for refusing to sell her Bubo the mechanical owl.
Rumor is that Zeus is getting involved and the Kraken may be deployed to Brooklyn...
Will Canadian Shitting Geese get confused in navigation after Trump rename Gulf of America
I was on Clarkson's side until I saw that she kept her big back pack on while negotiating the very tight space filled with expensive knick-knacks.
Just asking for trouble. I wonder if they have one of those break it-bought it signs.
Also, the interesting thing about the story is not the detail but the reactions, which are a reflection on the nonsensical state of discourse on the internet. And the most interesting part of that may be seeing the desperate need on the part of some to let the world know that they are not interested in this story they are reading and commenting on.
How many "death threats" do you think Clarkson got? Plenty.
People are such goddamn gullible rubes. Every public person online gets "death threats". Or "rape threats".
I don't think it was necessarily a judgement on what she could or could not afford to offer to show her the $2000 birds they have in stock. Sell what you have in inventory first instead of taking an order. If the ones in stock don't suit, then offer the custom ones. There might be more profit possible with the custom ones, but it might not be enough to instantly motivate the store for the amount of time and effort involved. Plus, I think someone might be more likely to have buyer's remorse over an order that will take who-know-how-long than over something that goes home with them where they can instantly see its cuteness.
She perceived it as a slight. They were just trying to make the best sale with the least effort. Probably poor communication on both parts.
She was in the store for less than 5 minutes. Here's an interesting discussion about it and the store's security camera footage.. I certainly don't see a Pretty Woman moment. She wasn't dressed in hooker clothes. She looked just like everyone else in the store.
I'm fairly certain that the employees knew who Kelly Clarkson is. I'm also fairly certain that they looked at her and went; "Ugh!" because they're a bunch of snotty Brooklyn hipsters. Now they're stuck doing everything they can to extract themselves from this mess without having to admit they're snotty Brooklyn hipsters. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
Brooklyn has hipsters? My, times have changed.
***
Is this like the time Oprah was in some European country and she said a store wouldn't show her a handbag because they thought she couldn't afford it?
***
As I recall it, she was in Paris, and swanned out of a limousine and into one of the highest of high end boutiques (Chanel or Hermes or Louis Vuitton level) right at closing time. One of her flunkies demanded that the store be kept open late, but with the doors locked so that Oprah could shop privately. Of course she charged the shop girls with racism when they refused, because of course she did.
***
As you'd expect from NYC hipster art business, the owner is an obnoxious whiner. So good for Clarkson.
***
Can we not regard both of them with well-deserved contempt?
Post a Comment
Please use the comments forum to respond to the post. Don't fight with each other. Be substantive... or interesting... or funny. Comments should go up immediately... unless you're commenting on a post older than 4 days. Then you have to wait for us to moderate you through. It's also possible to get shunted into spam by the machine. We try to keep an eye on that and release the miscaught good stuff. We do delete some comments, but not for viewpoint... for bad faith. Also: No italics, even briefly. Use asterisks for emphasis. And don't play with the format by changing fonts or using boldface or all caps. Never include more than one extra line break between paragraphs.