Fury as Barbra Streisand says Jackson victims were ‘thrilled’ to be with him
BARBRA STREISAND faced a furious backlash last night after she defended Michael Jackson over child abuse accusations and claimed his alleged victims were ‘thrilled’ at the superstar’s attention.
The Hollywood actress and singer, 76, dismissed the ordeal of two people Jackson is said to have repeatedly molested as boys, saying that they both went on to marry as adults ‘so it didn’t kill them’.
Her views were immediately condemned as ‘sick and disgusting’.
Streisand was speaking in the wake of the TV documentary Leaving Neverland, in which Wade Robson and James Safechuck give graphic accounts of the repeated sexual assaults they suffered as young boys. The pair were befriended by Jackson, who invited them to stay at his Neverland ranch in California.
In an astonishing interview with The Times, Streisand showed sympathy for Jackson, who died in 2009, whom she recalls meeting twice, saying he was ‘very sweet, very childlike’. She said: ‘His sexual needs were his sexual needs, coming from whatever childhood he has or whatever DNA he has.
‘You can say “molested” but those children, as you heard them say, they were thrilled to be there. They both married and they both have children, so it didn’t kill them.’
She added: ‘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.’
Dan Reed, the British director of Leaving Neverland, led a chorus of criticism, tweeting: ‘“It didn’t kill them”… did you really say that?!’
He added: ‘“His sexual needs were his sexual needs”– is paedophilia tolerated in parts of the entertainment industry?’
Another Twitter user wrote: ‘Barbra Streisand, what you said about Michael Jackson’s victims is seriously disgusting. Victims are not thrilled to be molested.’
Another posted: ‘No matter who you are or how talented you are, you are a sicko if you molest children. Michael Jackson deserves zero admiration.
‘And neither does Streisand for her sick comments.’
A dominant figure in film and music for more than half a century, Streisand has sold millions of albums and starred in major box office hits including Funny Girl and The Way We Were.
She is due to perform at the British Summer Time festival in London’s Hyde Park in July.
She was unavailable for comment last night.