Barbra Streisand left fans reeling after publicly grilling Melissa McCarthy about Ozempic on Instagram on Monday.
McCarthy, 53, posted an image of herself and pal Adam Shankman, 59, in Los Angeles on Sunday at CTG’s The Gala 2024 at the Ahmanson Theatre.
The comedian – whose weight has fluctuated over the years – showcased her newly slimmed down figure in a stylish mint dress and blazer.
‘Pastels only to honor the incredible @matthewbourne13 at the @ctgla gala last night with this fella @adamshankman !!’ the Oscar-nominated actress captioned the image. ‘Thiiiiis much closer to my dream of dancing on stage.’
Streisand, 82, responded in the comment thread with the question, ‘Give him my regards did you take Ozempic?’
The EGOT-winning entertainer was quickly at the receiving end of dozens of responses calling out the nature of her inquiry.
Barbra Streisand, 82, asked Melissa McCarthy, 53, if she used Ozempic in an Instagram comment on Monday
The singer is pictured in New York in 2019
The actress attended the CTG’s The Gala 2024 at the Ahmanson Theatre Sunday in LA. The star – whose weight has fluctuated throughout the years – is pictured right in 2014
‘Wow really!’ one user said. ‘What happened to not taking about Bodies! As a mother of a daughter that’s not ok we as women need to not focus on appearance.’
Said another user to Streisand, ‘I’m so totally taken aback that you could ask her that on Social Media for all to see? I love and adore you, truly, but that disappointed me.’
Another user said, ‘Whether she did or did not is no one else’s business,’ while others described the line of questioning as ‘rude,’ ‘nasty,’ ‘disgusting and disrespectful.’
One user said Streisand’s remark was indicative of a vapid mentality in Hollywood: ‘Movie stars will never stop focusing on appearance.’
Another user said that McCarthy ‘looks healthy, no matter how she got there’ and that they were ‘surprised at the lack of respect’ Streisand showed with her question.
‘How about just being healthy for the sake of being healthy?’ the user added.
Another user asked Streisand, ‘Did you actually just have the audacity to ask her that?! Especially right out here on social media!!!’
One user questioned the possibility someone was posting under Streisand’s handle, saying that ‘this cannot possibly be the real Babs.’
A user told Streisand, ‘Women need to not focus on appearance’
The thread was full of commenters defending McCarthy
People described Streisand’s line of questioning as ‘rude,’ ‘nasty,’ ‘disgusting and disrespectful’
One user questioned the possibility someone was posting under Streisand’s handle, saying that ‘this cannot possibly be the real Babs’
Another suggested Streisand ‘meant this to be a private message,’ while one user said, ‘It doesn’t sound like something Barbra would say.’
Not everyone was offended, as one user said they were ‘in shock with that comment’ with a pair of hysterical laughing emojis.
One user opted to tell The Prince of Tides star explicitly: ‘BARBRA YOU CANT JUST ASK IF SOMEONE IS ON OZEMPIC HAHAHAHAHA SAVAGE.’
Of course, Streisand is not the first to wonder if McCarthy’s transformation is a result of Hollywood’s new favorite weight loss drug.
For months, fans have speculated if McCarthy was using Ozempic, but she hasn’t publicly confirmed or denied the rumors.
The Bridesmaids star has had ups and downs whereas it comes to weight loss, as she lost 70 pounds in 2003 via an all-liquid diet for her part in Gilmore Girls.
She told People in 2011, ‘I’d never do that again. I felt starved and crazy half the time.’
McCarthy, speaking on CBS This Morning on Jun 3, 2015, said that she ‘truly stopped worrying’ about her weight at that time.
Streisand and McCarthy have past worked together professionally
They worked together on the song Anything You Can Do for Streisand’s 2016 album Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway
McCarthy said of Streisand, ‘She’s really funny,’ adding that her down-to-earth demeanor dispelled expectations the Funny Girl star would have a regal demeanor about her
She added: ‘I stopped over-analyzing, over-thinking, over-doing anything … I just stopped constantly being worried about it and I think there’s something to kinda loosening up and not being so nervous and rigid about it that, bizarrely, has worked.’
McCarthy told Extra in March of 2016 that there was ‘no trick’ nor ‘nothing to tell’ in regards to losing 50 pounds.
‘Just super boring life,’ McCarthy said. ‘You bring it real down, you don’t do anything fun and you go to bed at 7:30 – that’s the trick.’
Streisand and McCarthy have past worked together on the song Anything You Can Do for Streisand’s 2016 album Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway, a collection of duets that also included collaborations with Hugh Jackman, Alec Baldwin and Jamie Foxx.
McCarthy last June told Entertainment Weekly she initially thought the offer to perform along the legendary entertainer was a practical joke.
McCarthy said of Streisand, ‘She’s really funny,’ adding that her down-to-earth demeanor dispelled expectations the Funny Girl star would have a regal demeanor about her.
‘That’s what I almost wanted,’ McCarthy said. ‘And then, I think when she opened the door she had leggings on and lunch meat in her hand. And I was like, none of this is what I expected.
‘She’s so who she is. And also, when someone who you think you should be curtseying to keeps eating lunch meat, it really kind of levels the playing field. It was really charming. I was like, “You’re really pounding lunch meat.” She’s like, “Yeah.”‘