Brooklyn Dealer Changes Course, Sells Clarkson's Hunted Bird for $15 Million

Art of Play's owner now says anyone can buy "Molly" — at a steep price — while accusing Clarkson of a "social war."

If Kelly Clarkson still wants that mechanical singing bird, apparently now she can get it for a pretty hefty price.

According to USA Today, Art of Play co-owner Adam Rubin has decided to sell his automated bird for $15 million, given all the attention the bird has received following the store's viral feud with the American Idol star.

The listing in the store now reads: "Molly. Designed and created by Bliss Kolb. World's most famous songbird automaton! $15,000,000."

Pablo Torre has revealed the security camera footage of Art of Play and it doesn't look great for Kelly Clarkson

The New York outlet says Kelly Clarkson spent "5 minutes" indoors, trying to "clear the air" amid claims the star's "beautiful woman".

USA Today added that Rubin said he would give $15,000 to each store employee and $1 million to the artist if someone actually bought Molly. With the rest of the money, he said he would buy a lot of other antique pens.

Given the relatively steep new price, it's safe to say that this bird isn't really for sale yet. But a few years ago, collectors were paying tens of millions of dollars for NFTs that are now worthless, so the value of anything in the collectibles world is probably whatever someone is willing to pay.

Owners of the Brooklyn curiosity shop say they've received a lot of traffic because of the ads, as well as a flood of backlash from Clarkson fans, including threatening messages. "We fear for the safety of our shopkeepers," Rubin said. "Kelly Clarkson has put us at risk."

The update comes after security footage of Clarkson's visit to the store was released, showing Clarkson wandering around the store for about five minutes, including a relatively brief interaction with a store employee.

Afterward, Clarkson posted, "Just drove all the way to Brooklyn to check out this store, I thought it looked really weird and I have a few things in mind to buy and I literally feel like I can't afford it and was told she could find me something comparable. Wow, dude. You're an idiot and you missed out on a huge sale. Treat Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman Yes, you must see it.

Clarkson later disputed the co-owner's account, saying it was not for sale. "You looked at me in the elevator and said in a condescending tone, 'Yeah, it's for sale, but it costs $15,000, so if you want me to find you something comparable, I can.' This all never happened and is now not for sale. ok cool so not only are you rude but you're also a liar... and by the way, I'm obviously pro-small business because I was literally in a small business trying to buy stuff.

In an interview with USA Today, Rubin responded, "There's been nothing in this store where he's scolded us on the way out, but I could have let it go." Everyone has a bad day. But when he used his platform to attack us, everything changed. This is an asymmetric social war."