Kelly Clarkson vs the Brooklyn puzzle shop. Whose side are you on?

[TheDearFinch]

Has anyone else been following this? Kelly Clarkson went into a little puzzle and magic shop in Brooklyn, asked about a singing bird automaton on the wall, and came out saying she got the Pretty Woman treatment. The shop says the bird was never for sale and she was offered a cheaper one.

Now a podcaster has put out the shop's security video. It's under five minutes, no sound. So you can see her point at the bird and leave looking annoyed, but not hear a word. There's a sensible minute-by-minute breakdown of the clip here https://beautypositive.org/gossip/kelly-clarkson-art-of-play-security-footage/ and honestly it doesn't settle anything.

The owner says staff are getting threats now, which is grim. But I also get why she was upset if she felt looked down on. DH thinks she should never have named a small shop to millions of followers. I keep going back and forth. What would you have done?

DH thinks she should never have named a small shop to millions of followers.

Agreed. I dont care who did what (and think most likely there was a misunderstanding) but this is bullying and disproportionate.

I cannot possibly say what I think unless I know what actually happened.

I know some celebrities act like dicks when they get famous and equally, Ive personally experienced shop owners treating me like garbage so frankly, they could both be to blame

DisplayPurposesOnly that's where I've landed too. Even if the shop was sniffy with her, she had 10 million people behind her and they had two staff behind a counter. The threats the owner is describing are the bit I can't get past.
beautifuIstranger fair, and the video doesn't help because there's no sound. The one thing I'd say in her defence is that she never named a person, only the shop. Small comfort if you're the one answering the phone there this week though.

Is KC known for being a bit of a diva?

I know nothing about her

I dunno. I think she was wrong to name the shop, but they had a price tag next to it, and their responses made them sound very up themselves.

Oooooh, now I am swaying towards KC then

I think there's been pictures that have come out of the $15000 price tag next to it, which does go against what the shop are saying about it not being for sale. I don't really know much about Kelly Clarkson, but I've read a lot since this has all come out about what a down to earth type of person she is. I read the "apology" from the shop and they didn't actually apologise at all, so I'm swaying more towards believing KC.

I work retail so know what whinging cunt customers are like.
I'm surprised the shop stuck to their guns. Usually management side with the customer and punish the staff.

Sounds like a misunderstanding.

How many ‘down to earth’ people do you know that would pay £15K for a toy?

It’s hard to say but this is definitely one of those things where the internet has turned a very minor thing into some sort of massive issue. I think KC does need to bear some responsibility for the massive OTT frenzy which has been unleashed - when you’re a public figure with such a following online, it’s obvious that if you post something about a small business that they will be descended on by hordes of rabid fans/trolls. She knew what she was doing when she named that business. She wanted the public outcry and she got it. The rest of us just have to manage with Trustpilot.

Even if they were snooty towards a customer (who just so happened to be KC, her identity is only relevant in terms of the subsequent response) then it’s hardly the kind of thing that millions of people should be getting involved in.

As for being ‘down to earth’, most people would just leave and think ’I won’t go back there’ or tell a few friends what had happened or leave a review on Google or something. She posted on her social media account with millions of followers naming the business. Over a 5-minute interaction. What’s down to earth about that?

I am disappointed as I’ve always liked KC but I find this whole circus pretty distasteful.

I actually think the owner nailed it with this:

’“It’s so hard to forgive her actions after she walked out the door,” he said. “She knew what was going to happen. She knew that the entire pressure of her millions and millions of fans around the world were going to come to the service of their queen and weaponize themselves and debase themselves on behalf of a millionaire they have never met.”’

I think the shop owner comes across very badly in that interview. It’s obvious that they are milking publicity for all it’s worth. I can believe that Kelly was treated with contempt and maybe was even recognised from the beginning and treated badly to wind her up. Some people get off on treating celebrities badly. Gives them a sense of power

I would guess that someone who thinks it's reasonable to bring down the wrath of millions of social media followers on a small business is also likely to behave unreasonably in real life. So my money's on the shop's account being the more accurate.

I can also well imagine that they regularly get customers asking about buying the bird, but who then are shocked by the price and the assistant was anticipating the same exchange. And KC got the hump because she is used to being recognised and treated like royalty and misinterpreted it as a 'Pretty Woman's moment.

I completely disagree. That shop owner has been handed an absolute gift that all his competitors have not had. Free publicity to an audience of millions.

Everyone now knows his shop's name. From a marketing point of view, he hit gold.

If he was smart and had replied graciously and in a self depreciating and kind manner, he could have easily become utterly beloved and his sales could have soared.

Especially in the USA, people there love someone who apologises with grace- they love giving people second chances (less so in the UK).

The fact he didnt use this to advantage makes him an absolute bloody idiot.

But why does he have to be self-deprecating and kind when someone has chosen to blast his business and employees to millions of people and they are getting abusive calls and messages as a result? That’s exactly the behaviour he is criticising, bending over backwards to placate the millionaire. I’m sure he’ll do well out of this regardless but at least perhaps he’s sticking to his principles and not going crawling to the rich lady.

Both the shop owner and KC don't come out of this well. The shop owner was rude and has refused to apologise. KC comes across as a vindictive diva - she must have known the response on social media would possibly blow up and yet she decided to name and shame them.

KC has pulled a public strop which hints that she is not that nice.

Also the shop has five stars on Google Reviews, which is less liable to the bad review bombing that has now taken place on Yelp etc. 251 5-star reviews and not a single negative one except one obvious troll one related to this episode. Ms Clarkson has been very unlucky indeed.

And there is the skill of alchemising negativity without directly admitting fault.

It's perfectly possible to do if you are skilled and gracious in how you phrase it. Ive seen some superb examples of owner responses on google reviews that do exactly that and it makes me want to use them far more so than if they'd had a positive review.

Responding to angry tweets with more anger isnt helping him is it? his response hasn't helped his business, he's coming out looking bitter.

In business you have to consider these things. If you dont, your business isnt going to survive very long if all you care about is stubbornly being "right".

He literally had such an opportunity here and he blew it

This is not a mum and pop small business - it is owned by incredibly wealthy (millionaire) brothers. The shop has given endless interviews and the story has changed - I think both sides probably could’ve handled it better but the more the shop posts and now raising the price of the bird to 15 million just makes me think they’re CF trying to milk this situation.

The bird costs 15 million???

If I had 15 million I would not be running a damn shop

Supposedly the price tag said 15,000 then the shop claimed that the bird wasn’t for sale. Then the shop has put the “not for sale” bird up for sale at 15,000,000

Blimey, they have handled this so badly

I think the shop owner thinks he’s being witty by making the price of the bird 15million but in reality, sounds like a dick