Names and faces

 In this Feb. 24, 2019 file photo, Barbra Streisand introduces "BlacKkKlansman" at the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
In this Feb. 24, 2019 file photo, Barbra Streisand introduces "BlacKkKlansman" at the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

Barbra Streisand is coming under intense criticism on social media for telling a British newspaper that two men who say they were molested as children by Michael Jackson were "thrilled to be there" and that the alleged abuse "didn't kill them." In a wide-ranging interview with the Times of London, Streisand was quoted as saying she "absolutely" believed the accusers, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who make their allegations in the recent HBO documentary Leaving Neverland. But the legendary singer also raised eyebrows by saying Jackson's "sexual needs were his sexual needs." In a statement emailed Saturday by a representative, Streisand said: "To be crystal clear, there is no situation or circumstance where it is OK for the innocence of children to be taken advantage of by anyone. The stories these two young men shared were painful to hear, and I feel nothing but sympathy for them." She then added a note of implicit criticism of the boys' parents: "The single most important role of being a parent is to protect their children. It's clear that the parents of the two young men were also victimized and seduced by fame and fantasy." Jackson's estate has condemned the HBO documentary. The pop star, who died in 2009, was found innocent in 2005 of molestation charges in a case involving a 13-year-old boy.

Game of Thrones actress Emilia Clarke revealed that she has had two life-threatening aneurysms, and two brain surgeries, since the show began. An unknown actress before landing the role, Clarke had just finished filming her first season as Daenerys Targaryen on the HBO fantasy series when she had the first aneurysm in 2011 at age 24 while working out at a London gym. "Just when all my childhood dreams seemed to have come true, I nearly lost my mind and then my life," Clarke writes in a first-person story in The New Yorker. Clarke said she had been healthy all her life, but was suffering from serious stress when the artery burst in her brain. She said she suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage, which can easily be fatal. The second surgery, which was more invasive and involved opening her skull, came after Clarke finished shooting the third season. "I emerged from the operation with a drain coming out of my head. Bits of my skull had been replaced by titanium." She recovered fully, however, and was able to keep the problems from the media with one exception. "Six weeks after the surgery, the National Enquirer ran a short story," Clarke writes. "A reporter asked me about it and I denied it."

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AP/Evan Agostini/Invision

Emilia Clarke arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party on Sunday, Feb. 24, 2019, in Beverly Hills, Calif.

A Section on 03/24/2019

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