Flaawsome Talk with Kjersti Flaa - The TRUTH Behind Kelly's MELTDOWN !!

00:00:00.000 Is Kelly Clarkson just another entitled celebrity, or is she a victim of terrible customer service?

00:00:12.620 Hi and welcome to Flossom Talk. I'm Sjæshti Flore, journalist, Hollywood truth teller,

00:00:17.240 and your voice of reason in a town built on delusion.

00:00:21.940 Okay, so let's talk about Kelly Clarkson and what happened in that store in Brooklyn on Saturday.

00:00:28.360 I always like to wait a little bit before I report an incident like this because there's

00:00:33.500 always more facts coming out the longer we wait and I feel like now I'm getting more

00:00:39.080 of a picture of what happened in that store in Brooklyn and how and why Kelly Clarkson

00:00:46.820 reacted the way that she did.

00:00:48.840 Interestingly enough, the public is very divided on this one.

00:00:52.520 Some people see her as a victim of a rude store assistant that needed to be put in his

00:00:57.720 place, and other people see this as celebrity entitlement at its worst. So let's talk about it.

00:01:05.220 If you missed what happened in Brooklyn on Saturday, I'll go through it quickly here.

00:01:11.220 Kelly Clarkson said that she drove for 30 minutes to go to this store called Art of Play, which is

00:01:18.940 basically a small business that sells everything from toys to collectibles, as far as I've seen

00:01:25.740 on the pictures of this store and according to her she drove 30 minutes to get to the store which

00:01:32.760 I feel like okay everywhere you go in LA you drive for 30 minutes so I don't think that's such a big

00:01:37.780 deal that you drive somewhere for 30 minutes but anyways according to Kelly herself this is what

00:01:43.460 happens she walks into the store she sees this bird that's attached to the wall that has a price

00:01:50.340 tag on it that says $15,000. She tells the store assistant that she's interested in this bird and

00:01:58.120 according to her he looks her up and down and then say I have other alternatives for you

00:02:04.320 insinuating that she couldn't afford this bird according to how Kelly felt. So Kelly walks out

00:02:13.100 of the store not buying anything and gets really upset. Then she goes to Instagram and she says

00:02:20.380 just drove all the way to Brooklyn to check out this store I thought looked really rad and had a

00:02:26.000 few things in mind to buy and literally was looked at as if I couldn't afford it and was told he could

00:02:33.880 find something comparable for me. Wow dude you're an idiot and just lost a huge sale but you all 1.00

00:02:41.900 should go check out Art of Play in Brooklyn if you enjoy being treated like Julia Roberts' character 1.00

00:02:47.920 in Pretty Woman. For sure. Check it out. Thumbs down. So Kelly Clarkson shares this with her 8 0.66

00:02:56.200 million followers on Instagram and the media starts picking it up. And then the mob is unleashed

00:03:04.840 and they start attacking art of play on social media.

00:03:10.280 So the store posted this one on their Instagram saying,

00:03:13.280 Yesterday Kelly Clarkson visited us in Brooklyn and inquired about buying Molly,

00:03:18.880 a one-of-a-kind singing and dancing bird automation

00:03:21.520 who plays an important role in the magic show we host here.

00:03:25.040 Molly is permanently attached to the wall and isn't for sale.

00:03:28.840 However, the negative experience Kelly described on Twitter

00:03:31.860 would resonate with anyone who has ever felt judged in a shop at art of play whether someone

00:03:37.160 comes in to make a purchase or simply lock look around for a while they're equally welcome we

00:03:43.380 greet everyone who walks in the door with the invitation to pick things up and play and they do

00:03:48.660 so many stay for hours enjoying our puzzles games and toys and they say imagine our surprise

00:03:55.540 when our small local business was suddenly attacked by eight million people who've never

00:04:01.140 visited our store. It's been a surreal experience to be the focus of such widespread outrage after

00:04:08.140 just one mention by a celebrity. They said thanks to all our friends and welcome to all the curious

00:04:14.700 folks who have discovered us amidst the drama. We're going to keep our heads down and hopefully

00:04:19.980 we can clear things up with Kelly someday. As a talented popular singer once said, what doesn't

00:04:25.760 kill you make you stronger that was their side of the story then Kelly Clarkson got really upset

00:04:33.120 and she came with this long rant on Instagram story saying cool cool sure it wasn't for sale

00:04:40.760 that's the narrative art of play is gonna go with so the whole conversation we had when I asked you

00:04:46.500 if it was for sale was pointing to the price tongue hanging on the wall with the title singing

00:04:51.900 bird didn't happen as you elevator eyed me saying in a condescending tone, yes, it's for sale, but

00:05:00.860 it costs $15,000. So if you like me to find something comparable for you, I can. That all

00:05:08.560 never happened. And now it's not for sale. Okay, cool. She said, so you're not only rude, you're

00:05:15.360 also a liar. Got it. And by the way, she adds here, I obviously support small businesses because I 1.00

00:05:22.500 was literally at a small business trying to purchase things. I love small businesses and

00:05:28.200 no, they are important and I always support them. But you don't get a free pass to treat people less

00:05:34.060 than in your store just because you're a small business. It's not that hard to be kind. I never

00:05:39.700 blast people, but you, my friend, were an exception. Your store is really cool. Unfortunately, you're

00:05:47.020 not. Then Kelly also attaches this photo, this screenshot. I don't know if she took this screenshot

00:05:55.440 or if it was sent to her, if she took a picture when she was in the store, I don't know. But she's

00:06:00.900 attaching a photo here where it looks like there is a price tag next to this bird saying $15,000.

00:06:09.700 So she's pointing out there, I was right.

00:06:12.820 The bird was for sale and you're just lying.

00:06:16.320 So now, of course, this store has suffered tremendously from this.

00:06:23.420 Kelly Clarkson is a very liked celebrity.

00:06:26.420 And when she says something like this, people think, oh, she must be right. 0.99

00:06:31.280 We should go and attack this store.

00:06:34.000 So the Daily Mail published an article yesterday where they actually sent someone to the store

00:06:39.340 and they spoke to some of the neighbors there.

00:06:41.920 And they said in the article that neighbors and loyal customers alike

00:06:45.240 have rallied behind the store,

00:06:47.400 which prides itself on its unique collection of magical home goods,

00:06:52.000 puzzle, games, toys and books per its website,

00:06:55.700 insisting that people who run the business are not like the snobs

00:06:59.080 the singer appeared to describe.

00:07:02.380 I find it a little weird if a small business like this

00:07:05.700 is treating people badly that they're actually still running a business.

00:07:09.340 Anyways, they continue. Very bizarre. The woman who works there comes in every day and she was lovely, really nice. They always invite us into the shop to look around all their new goods. One local person said and another regular customer said that he was equally baffled by the controversy, telling the Daily Mail, this is my regular. My kids love their toys.

00:07:30.440 another source said to the Daily Mail

00:07:33.140 I've been there dozens of times

00:07:34.800 and they're wonderful, kind

00:07:36.320 they're patient with children

00:07:37.700 and never judge people who pop into play

00:07:40.300 leaving without buying anything

00:07:42.120 we talked to some of the store's neighbors

00:07:44.180 everybody's really nice in the store

00:07:46.080 everyone's really cool

00:07:46.740 so I think it comes down to a huge misunderstanding

00:07:49.940 it's unfortunate as somebody

00:07:52.160 who likes both the art of play

00:07:53.700 and Kelly Clarkson

00:07:54.720 they're at odds right now

00:07:55.960 others are firmly Team Kelly

00:07:58.620 I believe Kelly

00:08:00.400 Then the Daily Mail visited the storefront on Sunday afternoon

00:08:04.940 and they said that the police were outside the store.

00:08:08.160 Officers had been summoned to Art of Play at 2.30 p.m.

00:08:11.740 over reports of a disorderly person

00:08:14.140 and staff were so concerned by the disturbance

00:08:17.260 that they were forced to lock themselves in the store. 0.95

00:08:21.460 So this was obviously a crazy person,

00:08:23.920 maybe a fan of Kelly Clarkson

00:08:27.000 who thought that they needed to go there.

00:08:29.840 to distress people working at this store so they had locked themselves in the store because of this

00:08:35.920 a police car was also stationed outside the storefront for more than 10 minutes as officers

00:08:41.320 spoke to a woman spoke to a woman dressed in purple who appeared frantic waving her arms

00:08:47.200 in an agitated state and gesturing to the interior of the store then in the meantime the store was

00:08:56.160 flooded with numerous one-star Google reviews and the same thing happened on Yelp. People started

00:09:05.020 giving this store one stars and people were commenting that they would never visit this

00:09:11.040 store and if they could have given it zero stars they would have. It got so bad that the store

00:09:17.400 Art of Play had to contact Yelp and get them to stop reviews from happening because it was so

00:09:24.320 devastating for them here is one giving a one star saying does not treat people well even for

00:09:30.560 a celebrity perhaps they should take a lesson in customer service another one giving it a one star

00:09:35.260 be better to your customer profiling got you one star on yelp god spread for you to find

00:09:40.920 kindness and love another one giving it one another one giving it one star saying rude

00:09:47.320 if you could give zero if i could give zero i would treat people like you want to be treated

00:09:52.880 walking into a store. There's something very contradictive here of what Kelly Clarkson is

00:09:58.100 saying. She's trying to say in her response that she supports small businesses. That makes me

00:10:03.220 question if she believes that the punishment for this store is appropriate for what she's claiming

00:10:10.660 that they did to her. First of all, it wasn't the owner of the store that came out to help her when

00:10:17.200 she entered the store, it was a store assistant. So to punish the owner of the store for something

00:10:24.540 that one of the employees did in her eyes, is that really fair? That this person who owns the store

00:10:32.340 might lose the business? That could happen. If you get so many bad reviews and people start avoiding

00:10:39.120 your store because of it, it could have dramatic consequences. They have to pay their employees,

00:10:44.420 They have to pay their rent.

00:10:46.120 Brooklyn is expensive. 0.63

00:10:47.720 So what she did here already had terrible consequences for this little store.

00:10:52.580 I also think that what she's trying to say here is that everyone should be treated kindly

00:10:57.580 and everyone should be treated the same.

00:11:01.460 And if the store owner didn't recognize that she's a big celebrity,

00:11:05.920 maybe he thought that why would anyone buy a bird that's attached to the wall for $15,000?

00:11:12.180 I have other alternatives here.

00:11:13.880 I can show you if you're interested. I would never personally buy a $15,000 bird like that.

00:11:21.240 And maybe this assistant thought that, hey, if I'm going to treat you like a regular person,

00:11:27.880 I mean, this price tag is a little steep, but I have other alternatives I can show you.

00:11:33.180 I mean, to me, that sounds like customer service. But the question here is, if Kelly Clarkson was

00:11:41.020 upset that he didn't recognize that she's a big celebrity or if she's upset that he did recognize

00:11:49.260 her and pretended that he didn't or if she's upset that he did recognize her but still assumed that

00:11:58.340 she couldn't afford to buy this $15,000 bird. Now of course there's another side to this story.

00:12:05.420 Should you use your power and influence as a celebrity to do something like this?

00:12:12.660 And should you expect people to support you when most people these days can't even afford groceries?

00:12:19.880 They can't afford to have health insurance.

00:12:22.500 They can't afford to pay for gas and then expect people to support you when you're saying that someone thought I was poor.

00:12:31.300 Isn't that really looking down at everyone that's actually poor?

00:12:35.420 I mean, there's something really tone deaf here, if you ask me.

00:12:39.320 Now the store has responded one more time to Kelly after she called them a liar.

00:12:46.720 So they posted on Instagram again saying,

00:12:49.360 we'd like to clarify some additional details about Kelly Clarkson's visit to our curiosity shop on Saturday.

00:12:55.920 During the five minutes she spent in the store, she inquired about our mechanical bird puppet named Molly.

00:13:01.340 We explained that while Molly is permanently attached to the wall and serves as de facto mascot for our shop,

00:13:09.040 a nearly identical automation is owned by the creator of the machines,

00:13:14.960 a brilliant artist named Bliss Kolb, who lives in Seattle.

00:13:19.680 He told us he would be willing to part with his Molly's twin for $15,000.

00:13:24.660 We explained all of this to Kelly Clarkson.

00:13:28.780 We also offered to show her a different singing bird automation

00:13:31.900 made by a traditional clockmaking shop in Germany

00:13:35.980 that she could have taken home with her that day.

00:13:39.400 It costs about $2,000.

00:13:41.500 She did not stick around long enough to see it.

00:13:44.100 We reached out to Kelly directly to try and clear the air.

00:13:47.320 We really do wish her the best

00:13:49.100 and hope that someday we can all laugh about this misunderstanding.

00:13:53.720 So when they came out with this,

00:13:55.040 I was reading some of the comments there

00:13:56.780 and people were like hey you're still lying there was a price tag there she could prove it and how

00:14:01.560 can you say how can you say it's a one-of-a-kind when it has a twin yeah people just kept attacking

00:14:07.060 this store but now a couple of days later the tables have turned a little bit so now people

00:14:12.840 are saying to kelly clarkson on her instagram love your music but hate seeing your first world 0.96

00:14:18.080 problems all over my feed many people occasionally have disappointing shop experiences and it sucks

00:14:25.060 but right now there's a far more horrific things going on in the world.

00:14:28.780 I wish celebrities would use their platform for that.

00:14:31.620 Sorry, you couldn't buy a $15,000 bird.

00:14:34.360 I can't afford medicine, but that must have been so tough for you.

00:14:38.600 Maybe you were acting like a diva at the Brooklyn store.

00:14:41.400 Relax, you're not Whitney Houston. 1.00

00:14:43.660 I'm tired of celebrities trying to destroy local businesses 1.00

00:14:46.360 because they don't get their way, do better, blah, blah, blah.

00:14:50.260 It goes on.

00:14:51.080 So first her fans came out and defended her and supported her by attacking this store.

00:14:57.540 And now regular people are like, hey, hold on here a second.

00:15:01.340 This is actually not okay.

00:15:03.100 I find it hard to believe to begin with that Kelly Clarkson was walking into this store by herself.

00:15:11.300 Most celebrities, when they're out and about, they always bring people with them.

00:15:15.180 And it's pretty obvious that they're a celebrity.

00:15:18.220 And I also think this store is in Brooklyn.

00:15:21.080 In New York, there are celebrities everywhere and no one really cares that much.

00:15:26.440 I lived in New York for 10 years and I met celebrities all the time.

00:15:30.980 I met people like Beyonce in a beading shop.

00:15:34.440 I sat next to Leonardo DiCaprio several times in restaurants in my neighborhood.

00:15:39.540 I saw Taylor Swift with one of her then boyfriends leaving a pizzeria across the street from me.

00:15:45.460 These things happen all the time and people really don't pay attention to it.

00:15:49.700 And if you're going to a restaurant, it's not like the waiter will be completely over

00:15:54.920 themselves because there is a celebrity there, because they're used to it.

00:15:59.440 Another scenario could be that this person in the store is not used to being around celebrities

00:16:04.240 and he didn't really know how to handle it.

00:16:07.460 Either he recognized her and he started acting weirdly because he didn't know how to act

00:16:12.700 in front of a celebrity.

00:16:13.900 I've seen that so many times.

00:16:15.940 People get very shy.

00:16:17.380 People get giggly.

00:16:18.360 People don't act like their real self when they're in the company of a celebrity.

00:16:23.920 And that is also the scenario that potentially could have happened here.

00:16:27.920 Kelly Clarkson read the situation like he didn't recognize her and he should have. 1.00

00:16:34.620 He thought that she was poor.

00:16:37.680 And I think that triggered something in her because Kelly has spoken about this many times

00:16:44.400 before in the public, how she grew up poor.

00:16:48.360 And maybe she felt in that moment that he was looking at her in a way that brought her back to that.

00:16:54.720 And she felt shame about that.

00:16:57.120 She said in interviews that when she grew up, they could never afford going on vacations.

00:17:02.700 So her mom used to cut out a school photograph of her and paste it onto pictures of destinations like the Swiss Alps.

00:17:12.700 And she also has come out and said that people judged her for her appearance.

00:17:17.900 In 2020, she said in a Glamour interview that she recalled missing out on a high school performing role

00:17:24.040 and believed that someone less talented got it because she was prettier than her.

00:17:29.040 I think all of these things plays in to the way that Kelly Clarkson read this situation.

00:17:36.900 She felt that he was looking her up and down, judging her.

00:17:41.960 And as I said, I think that triggered her own insecurities.

00:17:46.580 And I think that triggered the anger in her to go after this store.

00:17:50.540 Something similar might have happened to her before she made it. 0.79

00:17:54.180 And now finally, it was time for her to take revenge on people who didn't treat her well.

00:18:00.920 You also have to keep in mind here that the person working in this store

00:18:04.340 probably could never even dream of going in that store to buy a $15,000 bird.

00:18:11.780 So why would you look down at someone else who also, he believed, maybe couldn't afford this? 0.97

00:18:17.860 I believe that this is going to backfire tremendously on Kelly Clarkson.

00:18:23.240 She has this reputation of being nice, and I think that's why people really empathize with her in the beginning here,

00:18:31.080 because they're like, Kelly Clarkson is so nice, how can anyone be rude to her?

00:18:35.060 We need to go out and defend her against these horrible people in this store.

00:18:39.200 But then, maybe if you're not so naive and take a step back, you start thinking, maybe she's not the person that she's portraying in public.

00:18:49.300 Maybe she's not that person all the time. We've seen it happen before. Remember Ellen DeGeneres?

00:18:54.800 Yeah, we all thought we knew her and we all thought she was kind.

00:18:57.640 I'm not saying that Kelly Clarkson is not a kind person, but I'm saying that all the people who come out and defend her because they believe that they know who she is,

00:19:07.880 maybe she'd hold on for a second.

00:19:10.700 I also believe that people came out to defend her

00:19:13.180 because she's always come across as so relatable.

00:19:17.120 She came from basically nothing.

00:19:19.360 She made it.

00:19:20.220 She seems humble.

00:19:21.860 She's nice.

00:19:22.920 She's kind to people.

00:19:24.620 And I also believe a lot of people

00:19:26.140 could recognize a situation like this.

00:19:28.580 We've all been treated badly at one point in a restaurant

00:19:32.660 or in a store or felt that someone was rude to us.

00:19:35.660 And maybe they thought, yeah, this is a revenge from all of us who ever felt mistreated in that way.

00:19:41.780 I found this little opinion in Variety, which I think is quite spot on, actually,

00:19:46.600 where they're saying, in defense of Kelly Clarkson, kind of, and the $15,000 singing bird saga,

00:19:53.860 they start off by saying Kelly Clarkson does not seem to be winning the war she haphazardly declared against the Brooklyn Novelty Store.

00:20:00.700 But the fact of its existence is proof that Clarkson is providing the public a service of sorts.

00:20:07.920 For too long, celebrities have been PR trained and social media managed within an inch of their lives.

00:20:14.040 Clarkson, Twitter fingers at their ready, provided a long week worth of entertainment

00:20:19.380 and a nostalgic reminder of a time when stars used to log on and indulge their messiest sell.

00:20:27.120 I've talked about this so many times on my channel, how everything is so controlled this day.

00:20:32.700 Every statement is through a PR person, a publicist.

00:20:39.420 And then all of a sudden, when a celebrity goes rogue, things like this happen.

00:20:43.400 And it's not always good.

00:20:44.960 But as this person is saying here, we need to look at the bright side. 0.78

00:20:49.300 Clarkson once won a televised talent competition on the basis of her relatability.

00:20:55.540 And reading her posts, that seems very long ago indeed.

00:21:00.660 Repeating more loudly that you had a lot of money you wanted to spend,

00:21:04.440 but were treated like a common poor person, which you are not,

00:21:09.280 is in the midst of an affordability crisis a weird look.

00:21:13.840 And that's true even before one remembers this is all about a mechanical bird

00:21:19.280 that may or may not have been on sale for $15,000.

00:21:22.980 And they continue to say whatever passed between the songstress and the songbird

00:21:27.760 is known only to those lucky people who were inside Art of Play for Clarkson's visit.

00:21:34.800 But the aftermath reveals a side of Clarkson that is juicily, messily human

00:21:40.260 in a way she might never have allowed herself to be on camera.

00:21:44.560 And then they're quoting,

00:21:45.500 I say things other think I shouldn't say sometimes.

00:21:50.060 Read her bio on X.

00:21:52.760 Yeah, we know, they're saying here.

00:21:55.280 To unload on a store with both barrels over a preceded slight is chaotic and inconsiderate,

00:22:01.460 to say the least.

00:22:02.620 But in an era in which the meaning of diva has drifted to talented woman who sings well,

00:22:09.420 Clarkson has provided a reminder of what the term actually means.

00:22:13.940 And the intriguingly contradictory Clarkson, the twangy singer who stole our heart and 0.98

00:22:21.080 who's now trying to requisition luxury puppets has this much going for her her posts refreshingly

00:22:28.160 enough are definitely not being written by anyone but herself yeah i don't know what you think about

00:22:36.060 this story i think for sure if kelly was so upset about this she could have asked for the manager

00:22:42.520 or she could have sorted it out privately afterwards and said hey i can afford this

00:22:49.020 Is it not really for sale?

00:22:51.080 I mean, there's so many things here that doesn't make much sense to me.

00:22:54.520 Why did you have to call them out in front of 8 million people?

00:22:58.460 I don't like rude people.

00:22:59.800 No one likes rude people.

00:23:01.200 And I call them out all the time here on my channel.

00:23:03.600 As you know, I shared my experience with Blake Lively.

00:23:08.020 But when you have so much power and you choose to spend that power on going after the little guy,

00:23:13.940 you should have a hard look at yourself and sort out your priorities.

00:23:19.020 Let me know what you think about this.

00:23:21.120 Was Kelly Clarkson in the right here? 0.70

00:23:23.820 Does this store really deserve all the backlash it's receiving now? 1.00

00:23:28.960 Or do you think that she sounds more like just another entitled celebrity?

00:23:34.060 Anyways, that's it for me today, you guys.

00:23:36.180 Thank you so much for watching.

00:23:37.680 And thanks to Oscar, my executive producer back here,

00:23:41.440 who's always working hard to make sure that my reporting hair is balanced.

00:23:45.980 He also wants to remind everyone to subscribe and hit the notification bell

00:23:52.440 so you never miss an episode of Flawsome Talk, right, Oscar?

00:23:56.300 And we'll see you tomorrow. Bye.

Flaawsome Talk with Kjersti Flaa - October 14, 2026

The TRUTH Behind Kelly's MELTDOWN !!

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