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Barbra Streisand: Melissa McCarthy Ozempic question was meant to be a ‘compliment’

Barbra Streisand defended herself after she faced backlash for asking Melissa McCarthy if she was on Ozempic.

“OMG – I went on Instagram to see the photos we’d posted of the beautiful flowers I’d received for my birthday!” Streisand began in a statement shared to her Instagram Story on Tuesday.

“Below them was a photo of my friend Melissa McCarthy who I sang with on my Encore album,” she continued. “She looked fantastic! I just wanted to pay her a compliment. I forgot the world is reading!’

Barbra Streisand said she was trying to compliment Melissa McCarthy when she asked if the “Gilmore Girls” alum was on Ozempic. Kevin Mazur
Streisand addressed the question by taking to her Instagram Story. Getty Images for BSB

The “Yentl” actress, 82, caught some serious heat when she publicly asked the invasive question in the comments section of one of McCarthy’s Instagram photos.

The “Gilmore Girls” alum, 53, shared a stunning photo of herself wearing a pastel green dress layered under a matching blazer as she posed beside her choreographer, Adam Shankman, outside the Centre Theatre Group Gala.  

“Pastels only to honor the incredible @matthewbourne13 at the @ctgla gala last night with this fella @adamshankman !! Thiiiiis much closer to my dream of dancing on stage 💃🏻💚,” McCarthy captioned the post on Monday.

“She looked fantastic! I just wanted to pay her a compliment. I forgot the world is reading!'” she explained in a statement. Instagram/@barbrastreisand
The “Funny Girl” star was called out for asking McCarthy if she was on Ozempic after the comedian posted a slimmed-down photo of herself. melissamccarthy/Instagram
McCarthy shared snaps from outside the Centre Theatre Group Gala.   GC Images

Streisand replied to the image, writing, “Give him my regards did you take Ozempic?”


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The “Funny Girl” star swiftly deleted her comment but critics continued to lambast her for asking such a personal question about McCarthy’s weight loss.

Several fans lambasted Streisand for her nosy inquiry while others defended her. Getty Images
McCarthy’s weight has fluctuated for years. Getty Images

“Babs. No, honey. Just no,” one person wrote, with another defender of the comedian joking, “Babs typing away on IG like my elderly mom telling me she text someone something, and me explaining: ‘No, mom, you wrote it on FB on your wall for all to see 😂😂.'”

“Major boomer aunt with wine and an ipad energy,” another agreed.

Still, several fans jumped to Streisand’s defense as they were convinced she meant no ill will toward McCarthy.

She once turned to an all-liquid diet to shed weight. Getty Images
Eventually, she lost 50 pounds by changing the way she mentally approaches her health. Getty Images for Critics Choice Association

McCarthy has been open about her weight loss journey in the past. The “Bridesmaids” actress and even admitted that she has been “every size on the planet.”

She accomplished a 70-pound drop in weight by going on a dreadful all-liquid diet and in 2015 she told Life & Style that she shed 50 pounds by changing her mindset on health and wellness.

“I truly stopped worrying about it,” she said at the time. “I think there’s something to kinda loosening up and not being so nervous and rigid about it that, bizarrely, has worked.”