Barbra Streisand Condemns RBG Award Going to Elon Musk, Rupert Murdoch: “I Strongly Doubt She Would Approve”

Barbra Streisand joined the family of Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Monday in condemning the choice of a leadership award previously named after the late Supreme Court justice going to Elon Musk and Rupert Murdoch, among others.

Streisand, who accepted the honor formerly known as the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Woman of Leadership Award last year, wrote on Instagram she was “proud” to have done so “in memory of one of the most esteemed public figures in American history.”

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The Dwight D. Opperman Foundation, the organization which delivers the award, changed the title this year from the Women of Leadership Award to just the Leadership Award, citing a pursuit of gender equality, and four of the five recipients are men.

In addition to Musk and Murdoch, the award will be presented to billionaire Michael Milken (known for his dominance of the junk bond market in the 1980s before pleading guilty to securities violations), Sylvester Stallone and Martha Stewart. The ceremony will take place April 13.

Ginsburg’s daughter Jane said in a statement that the choice of winners this year was “an affront to the memory of our mother.”

“The justice’s family wish to make clear that they do not support using their mother’s name to celebrate this year’s slate of awardees and that the justice’s family has no affiliation with and does not endorse these awards,” she continued.

Trevor Morrison, law clerk to Jane Ginsburg, wrote in a letter to the foundation that he was also “surprised and, frankly, appalled” by the announcement of the honorees.

In Streisand’s post on Monday, the singer noted that last year’s award was presented by Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

“Justices Ginsburg and Sotomayor stand as two of the most respected women role models, and their commitment to democratic values, especially women’s rights, is unequaled,” Streisand wrote. “That’s why I join the Ginsburg family in condemning the choice of honorees this year. I had the privilege of meeting Justice Ginsburg on several occasions, and I strongly doubt she would approve of these awardees.”

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