With 150 million record sales, 11 Billboard chart-topping albums, and 46 Grammy nominations to her name, there’s no doubt that Barbra Streisand is an incredibly talented performer. In addition to singing, this star has ventured into stage and screen acting, directing, and even producing. She’s even an EGOT winner, which means that she’s won at least an Emmy, a Grammy, an Academy Award, and a Tony throughout her six-decade-long career.
But, like many other popular celebrities, Streisand has had her fair share of diva moments. It is well known that this star has very particular rules when it comes to interviews. For example, she has specific requests for the camera angles that can be used, so she can always show her good side. Additionally, Streisand won’t stand having interviewers pronunciate her name incorrectly.
Barbra Streisand Has Bizarre Interview Rules, Including The Angle Of A Camera
With a career that spans over six decades, this talented performer has had her fair share of controversies. For example, she once threw shade at Lady Gage for her role in the remake of A Star is Born, a role that Streisand had portrayed in the past. Additionally, this Academy Award-winning actress and singer is well-known for having a strict set of rules in her contract when it comes to interviews.
For example, Streisand has specific requests regarding camera angles. And she once canceled an appearance on Jimmy Kimme’s late-night show because the host refused to change seats with her so the cameras could capture her good side.
During an interview with Andy Cohen, Kimmel opened up about the issue he had with Barbara Streisand. Kimmel admitted that he would have been open to switching seats if he had been allowed to joke about the situation, but Streisand refused to do this. “The condition was we couldn’t talk about the fact that we’d switched around, and I was like, ‘I just don’t see how this will work,’” the late-night show host explained.
Then, in 2014, Streisand appeared in The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. And, to make up for the singer’s request to show her good side to the cameras, the talk show insisted that Streisand sat on his desk during their interview.
Barbra Streisand Once Called Out An Interviewer For Mispronouncing Her Name
In addition to having the cameras always show her good side, when it comes to interviews, Barbra Streisand has a strict rule regarding the pronunciation of her name. In fact, back in 2016, she called out Michael Usher, from the Australian news show 60 Minutes, for mispronouncing her name during an interview.
After being introduced incorrectly, a clearly frustrated Streisand asked the interviewer, "What's my name? ... You said it with a 'z,' you had a double whammy." The host then made sure he pronounced the second 's' in her surname in a softer manner before Streisand sarcastically responded, "That's it, he's got it! My gosh, he's got it!"
Nobody likes to hear their name mispronounced. So it makes sense why this multi-award winner actress and singer asked the interviewer to pronounce her name correctly. However, fans were put off by the way Streisand did this. Some pointed out that the singer seemed to mock the interviewer with her comments after he correctly said her name.
Barbra Streisand Even Asked Apple’s CEO To Fix The Way Siri Was Pronouncing Her Name
The incident with that Australian news host wasn’t the only occasion where Barbra Streisand has had to correct the way someone pronounced her name. In fact, the Grammy-winner singer revealed that she once had Apple’s CEO change the way Siri was saying her name.
Apparently, Streisand was on good terms with Apple co-founder, Steve Jobs, prior to his death. The singer revealed that she even went as far as calling him on more than one occasion to ask for IT support for her computer.
“I couldn’t figure out something on my computer and nobody could figure it out, no IT guy, so I said, ‘Can you get Steve Jobs on the phone?’ The singer revealed in an interview, adding, “Sure enough, I asked him about this problem and he couldn’t figure it out. He gave me his IT guy, who also couldn’t figure it out. That was funny.”
And a couple of years later, Streisand called Jobs’ successor, Tim Cook, to complain about Siri. All because Apple’s personal assistant tool kept pronouncing her name incorrectly. In 2016, Streisand told NPR that Siri kept mispronouncing her name “it should be “Streisand with a soft s, like sand on the beach.
I’ve been saying this for my whole career.” Then she added, “And so what did I do? I called the head of Apple, Tim Cook, and he delightfully agreed to have Siri change the pronunciation of my name, finally, with the next update on 30 September. So let’s see if that happens because I will be thrilled.”