Barbra Streisand discovered that memories can be beautiful and yet …they don’t belong in a congratulatory message about Olympic gold medalist Alysa Liu.
Critics have blasted the iconic singer for a rollicking social media post that gave a genuine shout-out to the American figure skater but took a few awkward turns.
Her post was still up to make the rounds this week, though she shared it a day after Liu’s spirited free skate clinched her win at the Milan Cortina Games.
The Oscar winner wrote on Instagram:
We were so happy to see Alysa Liu win the gold medal in Milan yesterday. My husband just showed me that she skated to my song “Don’t Rain on My Parade” in 2019. I’m so proud of her. I heard she’s half Chinese. My second family in Brooklyn who lived above us was a Chinese family called the Choys. I worked in their Chinese restaurant since I was 12 years old and also babysat their children. She was like a second mother to me.
Some fans seemed to let her go for ‘Boomerposting’. Others rained during Babs’ parade.
“How can I make her gold medal-winning performance of an Asian woman about me?” -Barbra probably,” one observer wrote.
Another attacked in a similar vein, noting, “How can I make someone else win over me.”
Others alluded to casual racism on the part of the “Evergreen” artist.
“’I heard she’s half Chinese’ threw me out,” one commenter said.
“This is such a stupid post. ‘Oh, I heard that Alysa Liu is half Chinese, so let me tell you about this Chinese family I know.’ WTH?”
“We love you but consider someone half of everything. She’s a gold medalist. Period,” another explained.
One critic took Streisand to task with a more general comment: “What makes you think this caption is okay.”
Michael Buckner via Getty Images
