Skip to content
General · North America

Leaked security footage shows Kelly Clarkson inside Brooklyn shop amid staff dispute

Journalist Pablo Torre released security footage showing Kelly Clarkson inside the Art of Play shop in Brooklyn. The clip, aired on Torre's podcast, shows Clarkson browsing for four minutes and 50 seconds and approaching a mechanical bird called "Molly."

AI-assisted synthesis · Based on 5 outlets' reporting · Full text read from 1 of 5 outlets · short excerpt from 1 moreHow it's made

5 outletsLatest reporting 2 min read
Coverage: Mostly CenterL 0 · C 4 · R 1
File photo
Photo: Kathy Reesey / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

What happened

Key facts

  • Pablo Torre obtained and released security footage from the Art of Play store in Brooklyn Heights (per pagesix.com, dailymail.com).
  • The footage was shown on Pablo Torre's podcast 'Pablo Torre Finds Out' (per pagesix.com, dailymail.com, Yahoo).
  • Kelly Clarkson is seen in the footage wearing a yellow shirt, jeans, a baseball cap and a backpack (per pagesix.com, dailymail.com).
  • The clip shows Clarkson browsing the store, handling a telescope and approaching a mechanical automaton bird called "Molly." (per pagesix.com, dailymail.com).
  • The Daily Mail reports Clarkson was in the shop for four minutes and 50 seconds (per dailymail.com, pagesix.com).
  • Clarkson had posted that store staff were rude to her, which prompted public attention to the visit (per pagesix.com, dailymail.com).

The brief

Pablo Torre publicly released security-camera footage showing Kelly Clarkson inside Art of Play, a curiosity shop in Brooklyn Heights. Torre aired the clip on his podcast 'Pablo Torre Finds Out' and that footage captures Clarkson moving through the store for four minutes and 50 seconds.

In the video, Clarkson is dressed in a yellow shirt, jeans, a baseball cap and a backpack as she browses items, handles a telescope and approaches a mechanical automaton bird called "Molly." The Daily Mail's account of the clip repeats Torre's timing and visual details and adds that a $15,000 price tag has been displayed beside Molly in the store.

Daily Mail reporting names Adam Rubin and quotes him saying he had to attend to fallout at the Art of Play shop after Clarkson's public comments; the article says Rubin told the outlet he was recovering from skin cancer removal surgery when the incident drew attention.

Both Pablo Torre's release of the footage and the Daily Mail article tie the clip to Clarkson's own social-media complaint that store staff were rude to her; the footage shows her speaking with a shop employee after approaching the automaton.

The clip itself, as presented on Torre's podcast, does not include an on-camera transcript in the articles, so the available reporting describes actions and proximate encounters rather than publishing an exact exchange.

The Daily Mail frames the episode as a widely noticed public dispute and focuses on the automaton's displayed $15,000 price tag as a focal point in the store encounter; Pablo Torre's release centers on the footage's sequence of events inside the shop.

USA Today, AOL and Yahoo ran headlines noting Torre's release of the Art of Play footage and describing what the tape shows, citing the same visual detail summarized here.

At this stage the available articles document the released footage, the clothing and actions visible in it, the automaton called "Molly," the four-minute-and-50-second duration of Clarkson's visit as reported by Torre and the Daily Mail, and Clarkson's prior public post accusing staff of rudeness.

The Daily Mail adds the store's displayed $15,000 tag beside the automaton and quotes a named store representative describing dealing with the incident.

Why it matters

  • Customers at Art of Play and visitors to small retail businesses face reputational and commercial consequences when a public figure's complaint draws attention to a short in-store encounter, as shown by Kelly Clarkson's four-minute-and-50-second visit being circulated widely.
  • The store's proprietors and staff bear immediate operational and reputational costs, documented by Adam Rubin telling the Daily Mail he had to attend to fallout at the Art of Play shop after Clarkson's online post.
  • The automaton "Molly" and its displayed $15,000 price tag are central to public interest and media framing, creating a commercial focal point affecting the shop's public image as reported by the Daily Mail.

What to watch next

  • Whether Pablo Torre or his podcast publishes additional footage or commentary from the Art of Play security cameras, as the release on 'Pablo Torre Finds Out' is the source of the clip.
  • Whether Art of Play or named representatives such as Adam Rubin issue a formal statement or file any public complaint about how the encounter has been portrayed, as Rubin is quoted by the Daily Mail describing his involvement.
  • Whether Kelly Clarkson publishes further comment or clarification on social media addressing the footage or her characterization of store staff, given her prior public post alleging rudeness.

How it's being covered

Coverage analysisShow details
5 source articles · 5 unique outlets
Coverage mix: Mostly Center· 4 Center · 1 Right
Where the outlets are based: US/Canada 100%
Coverage mix
Mostly Center
Left
Center
Right
0 outlets
4 outlets
1 outlet
The marker shows coverage balance: each unique outlet counts once.
Geography
Where the outlets covering this story are based.
5 unique outletsDominant coverage: US/Canada
Coverage imbalance
  • Coverage is currently concentrated among Center-rated outlets (4 of 5 rated sources); comparatively few Left-rated outlets have published on the event.
  • Coverage is currently concentrated among outlets based in US/Canada (5 of 5 geographically-identified sources).
How we measure coverage

How outlets' accounts compare

Updat3 does not yet have enough full reports to compare how outlets framed this story.

How we got here

Kelly Clarkson, the singer-songwriter and daytime host of The Kelly Clarkson Show, posted a public complaint about staff at the Brooklyn Heights toy-and-curios shop Art of Play, which triggered initial media attention. Page Six and the Daily Mail published accounts of Clarkson’s post and the store visit, drawing wider online discussion.

Art of Play, a retail business in Brooklyn Heights known for mechanical toys and specialty games, had its location and staff identified in those reports. Journalist Pablo Torre, host of the podcast Pablo Torre Finds Out, has previously investigated high-profile public disputes in long-form audio reporting, a format outlets have used to revisit celebrity controversies.

Original sources

5 articles from 5 outlets

Every story links to the reporting it was built from. How we choose sources

Spotted a factual error, a broken link or a misleading summary? Tell us.