Things have been quieter on the automaton bird front in recent days. The investigative journalism has been done, the fans have weighed in on either side, and Molly the bird has had her price upped from $15,000 to $15 million. (This honestly still could be afforded by Kelly Clarkson, who reportedly earns $14 million per season each time she does The Voice.) While feathers doubtless remain ruffled on both sides, an insider came out of the woodwork to talk about the daytime host’s response, and how her celebrity pals really factored in.
An insider spoke to popular scooper Rob Shuter this week about Birdgate, aka Ms. Clarkson’s claims she was treated like a Pretty Woman character after entering a Brooklyn store and inquiring about an automaton bird bracketed into the wall. Apparently, Ms. Clarkson is uninterested in apologizing after the incident, per the new report.
Kelly is perfectly happy. She doesn’t think she did anything wrong, and nobody around her is telling her otherwise. She’s living in a bubble of applause.
The insider went on to speak about the outsized response the singer has gotten from her fans, which range wildly from daytime viewers, to The Voice fans, and people who love her music. When her viral tweets and Instagram posts broke, some of her Voice co-workers sent support, including her former step mother-in-law Reba McEntire, who wrote, “Oh Kelly their loss honey.” Per the insider:
Kelly sees Reba [McEntire], Jennifer [Hudson], Blake [Shelton] and Pink defending her. Her fans are overwhelmingly supportive. Why would she apologize when everyone she trusts is cheering her on?
There is some difference between the faction defending the generally relatable Kelly Clarkson and the other faction calling her out for the attempted takedown of a small business, and the insider said this is doubtless due to their still being differences in how the singer thinks she “stood up for herself” while her critics thinks she’s a “millionaire” taking shots at an entity with less resources and power.
To be clear, I don’t think the small business Art of Play was ever looking for an apology. Owner (and popular children’s book author) Adam Rubin said late last week that he would invite Kelly Clarkson back to their store to see what it is all about. He called what happened a “misunderstanding” basically of epic proportions. Despite reach outs, the store reportedly hasn’t heard back.
So, with no apology on the horizon, all that’s left is for Pablo Torre to auction off that comparable bird automaton he purchased while in the store and doing his own investigation.
