Celebrated performer, Barbra Streisand has shared her opinion on the current controversy surround Michael Jackson’s alleged sexual assault victims, in light of the Leaving Neverland documentary.
In the two-part film, Wade Robson and James Safechuck accuse the late singer of grooming and sexually abusing them as children and detailed how Jackson gained the trust of their families.
Watch the trailer for Leaving Neverland below:
Speaking to The Times, Streisand seemed to defend the late singer, stating that Robson and Safechuck were “thrilled to be there”.
“His sexual needs were his sexual needs, coming from whatever childhood he has or whatever DNA he has,” she said.
“You can say ‘molested’, but those children, as you heard say [the grown-up Robson and Safechuck], they were thrilled to be there. They both married and they both have children, so it didn’t kill them.”
Instead she said their parents were to blame.
While Robson and Safechuck’s mothers – Joy Robson and Stephanie Safechuck – both appear and speak in the documentary, their fathers do not. Dennis Robson died of suicide in 2002 and James Safechuck Sr. died in 2016.
“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,” she told the publication.
“Why would Michael need these little children dressed like him and in the shoes and the dancing and the hats?”
Since the publication of the article, Leaving Neverland director, Dan Reed has publicly condemned Streisand’s comments.
“‘It didn’t kill them’ @BarbraStreisand did you really say that?!” he wrote on Twitter.
Social media users have also shared their concerns on Twitter.
If this post brings up any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service. It doesn’t matter where you live, they will take your call and, if need be, refer you to a service closer to home.
What do you think of Streisand’s comments? Tell us in a comment below.
For more on this topic:
Without us noticing, it looks like Michael Jackson groomed us for decades.
The signs Michael Jackson was grooming the children he was close to that so many missed.
“It wasn’t going to mean anything”: Why Michael Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley.
‘Blanket’ Jackson was just seven when his father died. This week he stopped talking.
The two boys who followed Wade Robson into Michael Jackson’s bed insist they weren’t abused.
Debbie Rowe says she gifted Michael Jackson two children because he was a ‘wonderful man’.
Top Comments
I was so stunned by her comments it took me a while to understand why she made them. It seems that she's defending MJ by implying that the abuse was no big deal, as though what he did wasn't that bad! It's like she's openly defending pedophilia because of who was accused.
She is a very, very sick woman if that is what she truly believes.