Streisand Remark to Actor About Ozempic Creates a Brouhaha

What some are saying was likely an "innocuous" comment from one celebrity friend to another took off online this week, and now both players—singer Barbra Striesand and actor Melissa McCarthy—are addressing the controversy. More on what happened:

• Initial tweet: On Monday, Spy and Bridesmaids star McCarthy posted a photo of herself on Instagram attending a gala with director Adam Shankman, and one comment underneath that image soon caught the internet's attention, per People. "Give him my regards did you take Ozempic?" The "Evergreen" singer was referring to the diabetes medication that many have been using off-label for weight loss.

• Reaction: Streisand's comment soon went viral, with some blasting her for making mention, even indirectly, of McCarthy's weight, per the New York Times. Some wondered if the 82-year-old star knew her comment was public. Streisand soon after deleted her comment.
• Bad message? Although Streisand likely meant no harm with her post and was trying to be complimentary, some experts say that focusing on McCarthy's body could perpetuate our cultural obsession with body image. "Probably she didn't mean anything by it, but that doesn't mean it's not harmful," Cornell professor Kate Manne, who wrote the book Unshrinking: How to Face Fatphobia, tells the Times. Dr. Melanie Jay, director of NYU Langone's Comprehensive Program on Obesity, notes it's also a privacy issue: "It should not be something that people necessarily have to hide, but it's also none of anyone's business."
• Babs' response: On Tuesday, Streisand posted that she'd stumbled upon the photo of her friend McCarthy, "who I sang with on my Encore album," and simply wanted to acknowledge how good she looked. "She looked fantastic!" Streisand wrote. "I just wanted to pay her a compliment. I forgot the world is reading!"
• McCarthy response: The actor is shrugging off the hubbub. "I think Barbra is a treasure and I love her," she told TMZ, which noted she "waved off the photog's question on whether she thought Barbra was out of line." McCarthy also posted a short video clip showing her reading an old magazine with Streisand on the cover. "She reached out to me and she thought I looked good," McCarthy said. "I win the day."

(More Barbra Streisand stories.)