Home Unlabelled Barbara Streisand Is Getting Some Serious Backlash For Her Comments About Michael Jackson And His Accusers

Barbara Streisand Is Getting Some Serious Backlash For Her Comments About Michael Jackson And His Accusers

6 years ago
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It may have been a couple a months ago since the “Leaving Neverland: Michael Jackson And Me”  two-part documentary was aired out to the public, but the war between the question of Jackson’s guilt/innocence is understandably still raging on… especially in the celebrity world.

The latest celeb (and in my personal opinion, absolute legend) taking the hit for commenting on the ongoing battle between whether or not Michael Jackson’s accusers should be taken seriously (they should, they definitely should, FYI), is the one and only Barbara Streisand. And what has caused all this new controversy you may be wondering? Well, it’s all down to the comment she made below.

“They both married and they both have children, so it didn’t kill them,” the iconic performer said in a recent interview when discussing Jackson’s two main accusers..

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Barbara Streisand is currently under a great deal of fire and is facing a plethora of criticisms for the comments she recently made about two men who have come forward to accuse the 10-years now deceased Michael Jackson of sexually abusing them while they were just children. The pair had both previously said they were “thrilled to be there”  by Jackson’s side during all those years of alleged abuse. And if this is the first time you’re hearing about all this, where the freakin’ heck have you been!?

“You can say, ‘molested,’ but those children, as you heard say [the grown-up Robson and Safechuck], they were thrilled to be there,” Streisand dared to comment during an interview with popular British paper The Times. “They both married and they both have children, so it didn’t kill them.”

Obviously, the legendary singer and actress was referring to Wade Robson and James “Jimmy” Safechuck, who allegedly suffered years of horrific sexual abuse at the hands of the late Michael Jackson under the guise of being in a “relationship” with the star, the details of which all came out during the documentary Leaving Neverland: Michael Jackson and Me.

During the docu-film, the two men both shared in excruciatingly graphic detail how both they and their families were completely and utterly groomed by the incredibly famous pop star, all the years of awful, alleged sexual abuse and not to mention the absolute emotional and psychological toil the truly horrifying abuse took on their lives, even after they were able to eventually lose contact with Jackson himself.

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Now, it’s not to say that Streisand didn’t actually believe both Robson and Safechuck, far from it. During her newspaper interview, Streisand actually did say that she definitely believes the two men and that their abuse, and I quote “was too painful.”

However, it was what Streisand commented after she talked about believing the words of the two victims that has really struck up the controversy. You see, Barbara Streisand went on to describe Jackson as “childlike”… and then unbelievably when on to refer to alleged sexual abuse and outright targeting of children as meeting “his sexual needs”.

Yeah… I know. Here’s exactly what she said, actually;

“His sexual needs were his sexual needs, coming from whatever childhood he has or whatever DNA he has,”

Understandably, Streisand was very, very quickly criticized . for her comments, and of course her depiction of the alleged sexual abuse by Jackson. I mean, she seems like she is pretty much condoning it because it was all part of his “sexual needs”, basically making it sound like she’s saying “he couldn’t help it” which is just so so gross.

Anyway, there are a lot of people out there who feel the same way, celebs and non-celebs alike. Below is just an example of some of the backlash comments Streisand has received since the interview was published.

She also made things worse for herself by going on to say during the interview that while yes, she did feel bad for the children (now grown men) for having to suffer at the hands of Jackson, but she also felt bad for Jackson himself too. And, like many others out there to be fair, she then said she laid blame mostly on the children’s parents.

“It’s a combination of feelings,” she said. “I feel bad for the children. I feel bad for him. I blame, I guess, the parents who would allow their children to sleep with him. Why would Michael need these little children dressed like him and in the shoes and the dancing and the hats?”

Alas, on Saturday, Streisand soon followed up on her comments, and she seemingly backtracked her upsetting criticism of both Robson’s and Safechuck’s parents by saying that on reflection, they too were victim’s of Jackson’s actions, which I personally think is a spot on observation.

“The most important role of being a parent is to protect their children,” Streisand said during the statement she put out to BuzzFeed News. “It’s clear that the parents of the two young men were also victimized and seduced by fame and fantasy.”

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In her new statement, Streisand stressed that she had “nothing but sympathy” for the two victims in the film. Which I suppose is fair enough. She then continued with:

“To be crystal clear, there is no situation or circumstance where it is OK for the innocence of children to be taken advantage of by anyone. The stories these two young men shared were painful to hear, and I feel nothing but sympathy for them.”

And then, in a further statement released on Saturday afternoon as part of some further damage control, Streisand said she was “profoundly sorry” for her original words:

“I am profoundly sorry for any pain or misunderstanding I caused by not choosing my words more carefully about Michael Jackson and his victims, because the words as printed do not reflect my true feelings. I didn’t mean to dismiss the trauma these boys experienced in any way. Like all survivors of sexual assault, they will have to carry this for the rest of their lives. I feel deep remorse and I hope that James and Wade know that I truly respect and admire them for speaking their truth.”

I mean hey, hindsight is a b*tch, right?

ANd in all fairness, Streisand wasn’t the only diva to draw attention for her comments about Jackson on Saturday.

Yep, Diana Ross, the Motown singing icon, also tweeted her support for the late singer, drawing both criticism and support.

At the end of the day, it’s a very difficult situation for many, many people, especially for those who have been so close to Michael and have been guarding his name and legacy for years. I know for me, I’m 100% on the side of Robson and Safechuck, but it’s true that now as Michael Jackson has passed, we’ll probably never really know the full and total truth in this matter.

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How do you feel about this folks? Are you as torn as some many others out there? Or do you stand firmly on a particular side? Let me know in the comments and don’t forget to share this with your friends and family too! x

The post Barbara Streisand Is Getting Some Serious Backlash For Her Comments About Michael Jackson And His Accusers appeared first on Go Social.



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