Barbra Streisand will no longer attend the Cannes Film Festival to receive the Honorary Palme d’or after suffering a knee injury, the festival said Tuesday, ending plans for a Croisette debut that had been scheduled for the closing ceremony on Saturday, May 23.
The festival said it had just been informed that Streisand would be unable to attend the ceremony at the Grand Théâtre Lumière in Cannes. Streisand said she was following her doctors’ advice as she continued recovering from the injury and was “sadly unable to attend the Festival de Cannes this year.”
Even so, the tribute will go ahead. The awards ceremony will be broadcast live from the Palais des Festivals on Saturday, May 23, at 8:15 p.m. ET, and Cannes said it will still celebrate Streisand and her life’s work during the 79th edition of the festival, which opened on May 12 and runs through May 23.
Streisand said she was deeply honored to receive the Honorary Palme d’or and had been looking forward to celebrating the films of the 79th edition, spending time with colleagues she admires and returning to France, a place she has long loved. She added that while she regretted not being there in person, she wanted to congratulate the filmmakers from around the world whose work is being recognized this year.
The tribute had been announced in March by festival president Iris Knobloch, who said Cannes was keen to honor an artist who made her mark through the power of her art and her uncompromising pursuit of freedom. Festival director Thierry Frémaux called Streisand the legendary link between Broadway and Hollywood, the music hall stage and the big screen, and said hearing her sing and seeing her perform are part of the festival’s best years.
Streisand has never had a film in Cannes, and the planned appearance would have marked her first time on the Croisette. That debut will now happen without the star in the room, but the festival is still set to give her the honor it promised and put her work at the center of its closing night.
