Barbra Streisand apologises for defending Michael Jackson over Leaving Neverland allegations

25 March 2019, 16:54 | Updated: 25 March 2019, 17:02

Barbra Streisand has responded to the backlash following her recent comments about abuse allegations made against Michael Jackson.

Speaking to The Times, Streisand said that while she believed the accusers in the documentary Leaving Neverland – Wade Robson and James Safechuck – she also thought they were “thrilled” to be at his ranch and that Jackson’s “sexual needs were his sexual needs.”

The documentary, which aired in the UK in March, followed allegations from Robson and Safechuck, who claimed that Jackson abused them for several years when they were children.

When asked about the allegations, Streisand said she “absolutely” believed Robson and Safechuck, saying, “that was too painful.”

She continued: “[Jackson’s] 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.”

When asked if she was angry by Jackson’s alleged actions, Streisand said: “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 dancing and the hats?”

After the documentary's director Dan Reed criticised her over the remarks, Streisand released a statement to clarify what she meant.

“To be crystal clear, there is no situation or circumstance where it is OK for the innocence of children to be taken advantage of by anyone,” she said. “The stories these two young men shared were painful to hear, and I feel nothing but sympathy for them.”

The singer also suggested that the parents were too manipulated by Jackson.

“The single most important role of being a parent is to protect their children,” she said. “It’s clear that the parents of the two young men were also victimized and seduced by fame and fantasy.”

Meanwhile, Barbra Streisand will headline British Summer Time in London's Hyde Park this July