The Brooklyn shop owner at the center of the Kelly Clarkson drama has been in the public eye before – just not for what you’d expect.
Adam Rubin, co-owner of Art of Play, also wrote the bestselling children’s book “Dragons Love Tacos.” The silly 2012 picture book, illustrated by Daniel Salmieri, earned a starred review from Publishers Weekly − a coveted prepublication rave.
Rubin's New York curiosity shop has been embroiled in controversy after Clarkson took to social media on Oct. 10 to accuse the store of treating her as if she couldn’t afford a $15,000 mechanical singing bird. She compared her visit to a famous scene from “Pretty Woman” when Julia Roberts’ character is turned away from a pricey boutique for similar assumptions.
In the days since,
Rubin told USA TODAY the store has been overwhelmed, received threatening messages and that he is “afraid for the safety of our shopkeepers.”
"Kelly Clarkson has put us in danger,” he added.
The children’s book author at the center of Kelly Clarkson feud
Per his website, Rubin is the author of 15 books, but “Dragons Love Tacos” is his most well known. Rubin’s taco-loving (and spicy-salsa-hating) dragons have inspired children’s artwork, birthday cakes, and costumes, according to the book’s fan art section.
“Dragons Love Tacos 2: The Sequel” came out in 2017.
Other notable works include “El Chupacabras,” the winner of the 2020 Texas Bluebonnet award and “The Ice Cream Machine,” a collection of stories for middle-grade readers. In 2024, he appeared on "Good Morning America" with illustrator Ricardo Siri, better known as Liniers, to discuss their collaboration on the picture book “The Truth About the Couch.” He has also created a series of videos of writing tips for aspiring authors.
In an exclusive interview with USA TODAY in the days after the post, Rubin called the incident "an insane misunderstanding."
"Nothing happened in this shop to justify her scolding our shopkeeper on the way out, but I could let that go. Everybody has a bad day," he said. "But things changed when she used her platform to attack us. It's asymmetrical social warfare."
Clare Mulroy is USA TODAY’s Books Reporter, covering buzzy releases, chatting with authors and diving into the culture of reading. Find heron Instagram, subscribe to our weeklyBooks newsletter or tell her what you’re reading at cmulroy@usatoday.com.
Contributing: Christopher Cann
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Art of Play co-owner at center of Kelly Clarkson feud is a bestselling author
