Kelly Clarkson’s feud with the Brooklyn toy store Art of Play has produced dueling accounts, social-media pile-ons, and now security footage.
The spat began when the singer named and shamed the store in an X post on Sunday, saying she was given the “Pretty Woman” treatment during her visit.
In return, Art of Play disputed Clarkson’s account, saying she tried to buy something that wasn’t for sale, and then promptly left the store when this was explained to her.
Just drove all the way to Brooklyn to check out this store I thought looked really rad and had a few things in mind to buy and literally was looked at as if I couldn’t afford it and was told he could find something comparable for me. Wow, dude. You’re an idiot and just lost a…
— Kelly Clarkson (@kellyclarkson) October 10, 2026
What has followed is several days of he-said, she-said accounts and a global media frenzy — all over a $15,000 (or maybe even priceless) animatronic bird.
Exactly what happened remains somewhat unclear, but on Tuesday, journalist Pablo Torre made a break in the case when he shared what he said was security footage from Clarkson’s visit on his YouTube channel.
Business Insider has not independently verified the footage’s authenticity, but key details match what reporter Ben Shimkus found during his visit to the store on Tuesday.
Shimkus filmed the store’s interior and spoke with staff during his visit. At least two products visible in the security footage match items shown in his video. The man behind the counter in the footage also appears to be one of the staff members Shimkus spoke with.
You can watch the footage here:
Although the CCTV footage has no audio, it establishes a few things.
First, Clarkson’s visit was short. She was in the store for less than five minutes. The footage begins with her browsing and picking up several items as she walks around the shop.
She then stops, most likely near the bird, and appears to speak with a store employee. The exchange is brief. Clarkson appears to point at something on the wall, while the employee gestures at the same area.
The camera’s angle is partly blocked, making it difficult to see exactly what they are indicating.
The employee is leaning against a surface while holding a cup of coffee as he interacts with her. Clarkson walks away shortly afterward and continues looking at other merchandise.
The employee stays near the display for a moment. He later gestures toward another part of the store while looking in Clarkson’s direction. But Clarkson is facing away, looking at another display, and does not visibly react. The employee then appears to turn his attention to another customer.
Clarkson eventually puts back the items she had been carrying and heads toward the exit without making a purchase.
That is where the footage appears to show its most tense moment. Clarkson pauses near the counter and speaks to another employee.
Her hand gestures are more animated than they were during the earlier interaction near the bird. A few customers standing nearby seem to look toward her before she leaves the store.
In an interview with Curbed, the store’s owner seemed to confirm a tense moment, saying, “Nothing happened in this shop to justify her scolding our shopkeeper on the way out.”
The video then shows Clarkson exiting and pulling out her phone. The timestamps shown in Torre’s footage indicate that her original post about the experience was published about 15 minutes later.
While the video footage gives us a good sense of what happened at Art of Play between Clarkson and staff, what it doesn’t give is any sense of what was actually said. With no sound on the CCTV, there is no clear sense of the tone, wording, or context of the conversations.
Unless we get footage with audio, or more eyewitness accounts, we may never know exactly what happened in the Brooklyn toy store.
