Barbra Streisand on MJ's Alleged Victims: 'It Didn't Kill Them'

76-year-old singer facing big backlash after comments on Michael Jackson documentary
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 23, 2019 6:00 AM CDT
Barbra Streisand on MJ's Alleged Victims: 'It Didn't Kill Them'
In this Oct. 11, 2012, file photo, singer Barbra Streisand performs at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY.   (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

When someone's name is trending on Twitter, it's often because it's their birthday, they died, or they did or said something causing a whole lot of people to shake their heads. In Barbra Streisand's case, it was the latter on Friday after a London Times interview with her revealed her thoughts on the recently revived Michael Jackson scandal. Streisand was asked about the documentary Leaving Neverland, in which Wade Robson and James Safechuck allege that Jackson sexually abused them when they were children, and she acknowledged it was "painful" to watch, and that she "absolutely" believed the two men. However, it was what the 76-year-old singer said next that E! Online reports drew the ire of many. "His sexual needs were his sexual needs," she said, blaming his DNA and/or his childhood experiences as perhaps being a driving force for the abuse he's accused of.

As for Robson and Safechuck, she noted they'd been "thrilled" to be around Jackson as kids, and that since then they've "both married and they both have children, so it didn't kill them." She added she felt bad for both the kids and Jackson, pointing the finger instead at the parents of Robson and Safechuck for allowing their children to get too close to the pop star. USA Today reports on the backlash Streisand is now receiving online, with even the director of Leaving Neverland weighing in. "'It didn't kill them.' @BarbraStreisand did you really say that?!" an incredulous Dan Reed posted. "Is pedophilia tolerated in parts of the entertainment industry?" he added in a follow-up tweet. No word yet from the Streisand camp on her response to the outrage. (Last year, another Streisand revelation: She cloned her dog.)

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