'Did you take Ozempic?' Barbra Streisand gives a masterclass in how not to pay a compliment

Original source (on modern site) | Article images: [1]

Name: Barbra Streisand v Melissa McCarthy.

Age: New.

Appearance: An Instagram caption that exploded the world.

Oh great, an old-fashioned beef. It would certainly seem that way. In one corner, a funny girl. In the other, Funny Girl.

What happened? Melissa McCarthy recently posted a picture of herself dressed up to the nines, attending a gala with the director Adam Shankman. And then Barbra Streisand happened.

What did she say? Did she tell McCarthy that she looked awful? Did she threaten her with violence? No. Worse. She said: "Give him my regards did you take Ozempic?"

I don't understand. Sure you do. Ozempic is a drug used to lower blood sugar levels in adults with type 2 diabetes, but it is also used to aid weight loss, especially in celebrity circles.

So did McCarthy take Ozempic? I don't know! More pressingly, it is nobody's business whether she did or not. The shape of someone's body, and how they choose to go about changing it, is a highly personal matter.

Right. And what was the "Give him my regards" bit about? Not sure. But it definitely seems like a chilling, Lannister-style threat.

There must have been some pretty spectacular fallout from this beef. Not really. McCarthy deleted the original post, which initially made it look as if Streisand had badly hurt her feelings, but has subsequently posted a follow-up video where she declares: "The takeaway? Barbra Streisand knows I exist, she reached out and she thinks I look good. I win the day."

And Streisand? She posted a story reminding everyone that McCarthy performed a duet with her on her Encore album, adding: "She looked fantastic! I just wanted to pay her a compliment. I forgot the world is reading!"

Oh, so it was a compliment! Yes. If you ever want to tell a friend of yours that they happen to be looking good at any particular point in time, it is perfectly fine to publicly ask them if they've been injecting themselves with a weight-loss drug.

Sure? OK, it's perfectly fine to do that if you're Barbra Streisand, and generally conduct yourself like someone's aggressively tipsy relative three-quarters of the way through a wedding reception.

Gotcha. This sort of social media mix-up comes with the territory. Remember when Kim Kardashian mentioned "Georgio Armani" in a tweet and Armani corrected her spelling? Or when Rita Ora promised to release a song if her tweet got 100,000 likes, and it didn't, and then she told everyone she'd been hacked? The Streisand comment will be forgotten in time, just like these.

But you haven't forgotten about them. I know, they're hilarious. Streisand is taking this one to the grave.

Do say: "Instagram comments are public."

Don't say: "You look great! Did you get a baby foreskin facial?"