BABS’ HEART TO HEARST: The purpose of Barbra Streisand’s visit to Hearst Tower on Wednesday was to talk about a new ad campaign for The Women’s Heart Alliance, a foundation she and Ronald Perelman founded on heart disease. Interviewed by Gayle King, editor at large for Hearst title O, the Oprah Magazine, Streisand wound up talking about that and a whole lot more, namely Kim Kardashian, how talented people act (or don’t), and gender equality.
King started the discussion addressing Streisand’s talent and asking if the singer has ever regretted partnering with any entertainers over her career. “Who have you enjoyed the most and who’s a jerk?” King inquired. “If you don’t want to give names, we’ll take initials.”
Streisand PR’d King and took the higher, if not duller, road: “Everyone was superb.”
“Nooo,” King replied.
“Everyone was such a delight. Sometimes, when you work with mediocre talents, they feel entitled. They act like stars. Genuinely talented people don’t,” said Streisand, who may have been a bit too magnanimous. After all, even Babs is known for the occasional outburst and diva-like behavior.
King pivoted to Streisand’s foundation, which is meant to speak to women about heart disease. After showing the video campaigns to the packed auditorium, the editor asked Streisand about her link to heart disease. “I am crazed about gender discrimination,” the singer explained. “I can’t believe it [exists] in the workforce, in politics and in health care.”
What she was referring to is the fact that heart disease kills more women than all cancers combined, and yet the majority of research has been conducted on men — even male mice. The symptoms are also different in women, and generally, women tend to ignore them, as do doctors, she said.
The mention of doctors prompted King to interject: “Are you aware that Dr. Oz has a magazine here at Hearst?”
Streisand smiled: “Honey, I did an interview with him.”
The subject then turned to confidence — something both women know a lot about, to which Streisand added: “The balance of confidence is insecurity, otherwise you would be a monster. I don’t know if most people are like that, but artists are like that,” she said.
King, whose parents both died of heart disease at an early age, wanted to talk about how Streisand’s celebrity has helped bring attention to the issue; after all, the singer has a wing at Cedars-Sinai named after her due to her charitable works in the field.
The entertainer deadpanned that growing up, she “wanted to see her name in lights” but “nothing compares to the joy” she gets from seeing her name “in stainless steel on a building.”
King couldn’t keep from looping in some current events — natch, since she has a news background — and mentioned another celebrity to draw a distinction of what to do with fame and what not to do. “In The New York Post, there’s a picture of Kim Kardashian with her butt hanging out that says: ‘I just want to share my life with people,’” King said, pausing for a reaction.
“Yeah, share my butt with people,” Streisand said with a grin.