Internet divided as Barbra Streisand says she 'just wanted to' pay Melissa McCarthy a compliment after Ozempic remark

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Barbra Streisand has addressed the controversy surrounding her Instagram comment asking close friend Melissa McCarthy whether she was using the weight loss drug Ozempic.

Before she retracted her remark, the singer's comment on Monday, April 29, sparked a wave of criticism online, according to Daily Mail.

Barbra Streisand's comment about Melissa McCarthy's Ozempic use

On Sunday, April 28, McCarthy posted a picture of herself and her friend Adam Shankman at CTG's The Gala 2024 at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, showcasing her slimmed-down figure in a mint dress and blazer.

"Pastels only to honor the incredible @matthewbourne13 at the @ctgla gala last night with this fella @adamshankman !! This much closer to my dream of dancing on stage," the 'Gilmore Girls' star captioned the image.

Streissand's comment "Give him my regards did you take Ozempic?" received backlash from social media users before she deleted the remark.

Barbra Streisand says she 'forgot the world is reading'

Streisand then broke her silence on the issue as she wrote, "OMG - I went on Instagram to see the photos we'd posted of the beautiful flowers I'd received for my birthday!"

"Below them was a photo of my friend Melissa McCarthy who I sang with my on Encore album," she added.

"She looked fantastic! I just wanted to pay her a compliment. I forgot the world is reading!" Streisand concluded.

Melissa McCarthy previously shared she 'stopped worrying' about her weight

In 2015, McCarthy candidly spoke about her approach to body image and weight loss as she spoke on CBS' 'This Morning' that she "truly stopped worrying" about her weight.

"I stopped over-analyzing, over-thinking, over-doing anything," she added.

"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 said at the time.

In March 2016, McCarthy talked about losing 50 pounds as she said that there was "no trick" nor "nothing to tell."

"Just super boring life. You bring it real down, you don't do anything fun and you go to bed at 7:30 - that's the trick," she added.

Internet reacts to Barbra Streisand addressing her Ozempic remark about Melissa McCarthy

Reacting to Streisand sharing that her intention of asking whether McCarthy was using Ozempic was only a compliment, one user on X (formerly Twitter) wrote, "Did you take Ozempic is a compliment? just asking."

"I mean, I’m sure anyone would be thrilled to be asked if they had been taking a weight loss drug," a user tweeted.

One user wrote, "A better compliment would have been "you look fantastic" or something similar."

Supporting Streissand's comment about McCarthy, one user wrote, "It's ok Barbra. We forgive you," while another user wrote, "She always looks good. She knows your heart!"

"I knew you meant that to be private and that you were not being mean. I am sure Ms McCarthy knew that too," a netizen commented.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.