Barbra Streisand Has Really Bad Responses to the Michael Jackson Documentary
HBO's documentary Leaving Neverland is a harrowing look at the victims of alleged sexual abuse at the hands of Michael Jackson. In an (unfortunately paywalled) interview that came out Friday, Barbra Streisand told The Times in the U.K. that she believed the two victims in the documentary, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, but beyond that, she offered some troubling thoughts on the impact of what happened to them and who was to blame. Per Variety:
Streisand says that on the occasions she met Jackson, he was “very sweet, very childlike.” But despite the material being painful to watch, she seems to have some sympathy for the late pop star. “His sexual needs were his sexual needs, coming from whatever childhood he has or whatever DNA he has,” she told the Times.
“You can say ‘molested,’ but those children, as you heard them say [the grown-up Robson and Safechuk], they were thrilled to be there. They both married and they both have children, so it didn’t kill them.”
When asked if she’s angry with Jackson, she replies, “It’s a combination of feelings. 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 shows and the dancing and the hats?”
Despite her insistence that she feels sympathy, Streisand's comments are dismissive and patronizing. Of course survivors of sexual abuse weren't "killed" by their experience, because we're talking about sexual abuse and not literal murder. But surviving trauma is not evidence that trauma never happened. And blaming the parents of victims instead of the perpetrator is barely a degree removed from victim blaming. How and if Streisand will defend, walk back, or apologize for these comments remains to be seen.
