Barbra Streisand to miss Cannes Film Festival tribute on doctor’s orders
Barbra Streisand has confirmed she won’t be attending the Cannes Film Festival to accept her honorary Palme d’Or.
The Hollywood icon was due to be in France on May 23rd for the closing ceremony to accept the prestigious award, but after suffering a knee injury, she will no longer be in Cannes.
In a statement, published by the festival, 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.”
Nevertheless, she added, “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.”
Streisand then opened up on her frustration at being unable to attend, stating, “I was also very much looking forward to spending time with colleagues whom I so admire”, and sharing that France is “a place I have always loved.”
She continued, “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.”
The EGOT-winner concluded by giving her “heartfelt thanks” to the festival, as well as “everyone who continues to support and champion the art of cinema”.
While Streisand won’t be in attendance for the occasion, Cannes have confirmed that their planned special tribute to the 84-year-old will still go ahead on May 23rd.
In addition to Streisand being honoured, the French film festival has also commemorated the careers of John Travolta and Peter Jackson with honorary Palme d’Ors at the 2026 edition of the event.
Over the weekend, James Gray’s new film Paper Tiger, starring Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson and Miles Teller, received a lengthy standing ovation following its world premiere at Cannes.
Notably, Johansson was missing from the world premiere, and although director Gray attempted to call the actor during the standing ovation, she reportedly did not answer the phone.
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