Fact Check: Did Barbra Streisand sing ‘God Bless America’ to silence anti-American hecklers in NYC?

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: A rumor has been circulating that eight-time Grammy-winning legend Barbra Streisand shut down anti-American hecklers at a New York City concert by singing “God Bless America."

According to the claim, chaos broke out mid-performance when “anti-American chants” erupted near the front of the stage. But instead of flipping out or walking off, Streisand reportedly stayed calm, smiled, and broke into the patriotic anthem with “deep, soulful conviction." But is there any truth to the rumor? Let’s find out.

Origin of the claim

The rumor appears to have originated from a Facebook post on October 20, shared by a page called Echoes of Elegance. The post showed what looked like a photo of Streisand standing with her hand over her heart before an American flag.

The post linked to a questionable, ad-filled blog that redirected readers from chillhome.info to virevo.feji.io.

The post’s headline stated, “BREAKING NEWS: Barbra Streisand Took a Stand Last Night That No One Saw Coming — but No One Will Ever Forget 🇺🇸.” The accompanying text painted a picture straight from a Hallmark movie.

“Midway through her breathtaking concert in New York City, as a handful of anti-American chants erupted near the front of the stage, the legendary singer didn’t lash out. She didn’t storm off… Instead, Barbra Streisand gripped her microphone, offered a calm, steady smile, and began softly singing ‘God Bless America’ with deep, soulful conviction," it read. 

Fact Check: False, no evidence to back the viral claim 

In reality, there was no Streisand concert in New York City, or anywhere else in October. Both Barbra-Archives.com and ConcertArchives.org, which track her tour history, show no recent performances, as Snopes confirmed.

A quick search across Bing, Google, DuckDuckGo, and Yahoo turned up zero credible reports of the claimed patriotic moment. Moreover, if Barbra Streisand had broken into “God Bless America” mid-concert while shutting down protesters, every outlet from CNN to TMZ would’ve been on it.

Snopes even reached out to Chris Andrews, Streisand’s rep at Creative Artists Agency (CAA), who confirmed the story was “totally false.”

Andrews added that Streisand hadn’t performed in New York City “in a long time.” 

Barbra Streisand ‘God Bless America’ photo found to be AI-created

The Echoes of Elegance post featured an image of Streisand in front of the American flag, but experts say it was generated by artificial intelligence. The skin appeared too smooth, with overly perfect lighting and a plastic-like finish. When Snopes ran the image through the AI-detection tool Sightengine, it returned a 99% likelihood of being AI-generated.

Even the post’s emotional ending carried the same robotic tone often found in AI-written “inspirational” stories.

“Flags waved. Tears streamed down faces. The chants melted into silence. Barbra didn’t fight with anger, she answered with grace, strength, and love for her country. ‘Patriotism isn’t about shouting,’ she said afterward, her voice trembling. ‘It’s about caring enough to sing when the world forgets how.’ The audience erupted, not in chaos, but in reverence, standing together as one. That night, Barbra Streisand didn’t just perform, she reminded America what it means to lead with heart, not heat," the text concluded.

However, Streisand never said those words.

Snopes also discovered something else fishy about the Echoes of Elegance page. The page’s “transparency” tab revealed that its admins were based in Vietnam and the Philippines, not the US.

By pushing out fake stories and AI-generated images that get shared thousands of times, these pages rake in ad revenue from gullible users who click through.

That said, the Streisand rumor is just another example of “glurge.” Dictionary.com defines the term as stories “that are supposed to be true and uplifting, but which are often fabricated and sentimental.”

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