Barbra Streisand won’t be present at Cannes closing ceremony to accept honorary Palme d’Or

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Barbra Streisand is being forced to skip an event to receive a major honor of her life due to health issues. 

The legend has shared in a statement that she won’t be present at the Cannes Film Festival closing ceremony on May 23 to accept her honorary Palme d’Or at the Grand Théâtre Lumière due to a knee injury.

Barbra Streisand reveals she's not recovered fully from knee injury

In a statement, Streisand said, “On the advice of my doctors, as I continue recovering from a knee injury, I am sadly unable to attend the Festival de Cannes this year. But I am deeply honored to receive the honorary Palme d’Or and had so been looking forward to celebrating the remarkable films of the 79th edition.”

The ‘A Star Is Born’ actress further mentioned her love for France and her remorse for not “spending time with colleagues whom I so admire.”

Barbra Streisand expresses her regret over not attending the Cannes closing ceremony

“While I regret that I can’t be there in person, I want to extend my warmest congratulations to all of the filmmakers from around the world whose extraordinary talent and creative vision are being celebrated this year. My heartfelt thanks to the Festival, and to everyone who continues to support and champion the art of cinema,” Streisand added.

But despite the 84-year-old singer’s absence, she will be honored at the event. “Iris Knobloch, Thierry Frémaux and the entire Festival team send Barbra Streisand their warmest wishes for a prompt recovery,” the festival said in a press release.

Streisand is the third recipient of a Cannes honorary Palme d’Or in 2026. Before her, filmmaker Peter Jackson and actor John Travolta were given the award.

John Travolta 'can't believe' he was awarded the Cannes honorary Palme d’Or 

Travolta, during his acceptance speech, shared that the honor was a surprise for him. He said, “This is beyond the Oscar. I can’t believe this. This is the last thing I expected.”

Thanking Frémaux, the ‘From Paris with Love’ star, stated, “You said this would be a special night, but I didn’t know it would mean this. This is a humbling moment, so thank you, Thierry, from the bottom of my heart.”

“When I met with you in November, I did not expect that my film would be accepted. And when Thierry said it was not only accepted, but it was making history because it would be the first film ever accepted that early, I cried like a baby. I was just happy to be here! I never expected this. Thank you so much,” Travolta added, who was at Cannes last week for the premiere of his directorial debut, 'Propeller One-Way Night Coach'.