Barbra Streisand Thinly References Kimmel Controversy in The Way We Were Tribute as Redford Remembered
In a post honoring Robert Redford, Streisand draws a parallel between current Hollywood politics and the blacklist-era themes of The Way We Were, as Redford’s death prompts renewed attention to the film and its political scenes.
Barbra Streisand, 83, used a social-media tribute to Robert Redford to reference the Jimmy Kimmel Live! controversy, drawing a line between the current political climate and the Hollywood blacklist era depicted in The Way We Were. The post arrived after Redford’s death last week and highlighted the film’s themes of love tested by politics. Streisand noted that Columbia Pictures, on its 50th anniversary Blu-ray release in 2023, had allowed the restoration of political scenes that had been cut during the blacklist era, arguing that the past and present share a pattern of artists being challenged or penalized for their beliefs. “Can’t believe it’s happening again more than 50 years later in this country!” she wrote, framing her remarks as a reflection on a time when political opinion could determine a person’s professional fate.
The remarks appear as Hollywood navigates a fresh controversy surrounding late-night television and political rhetoric. Last Wednesday, Jimmy Kimmel Live! was indefinitely suspended after a remark about Charlie Kirk’s killer that the FCC chairman flagged as problematic, prompting a probe into the show’s comments. Investigators have indicated that the accused gunman, Tyler Robinson, held leftist views and allegedly texted his live-in transgender partner Lance Twiggs, also known as Luna, that he shot the MAGA influencer because he “had enough of his hatred.” Twiggs is cooperating with authorities. Kimmel’s suspension drew a fierce outcry from Hollywood, and by Monday it had been announced that the program would return Tuesday.
Streisand’s tribute also invoked The Way We Were’s central romance, in which she plays Katie, a fiery activist, opposite Redford’s Hubbell, a writer whose apolitical demeanor clashes with her political convictions. The film, which was commemorated on its 50th anniversary Blu-ray, included two deleted scenes restored for the release that deepen the exploration of Katie’s politics and its impact on her relationship with Hubbell. One scene has Hubbell confronting Katie about how politics intrudes on their marriage, with Katie insisting on a commitment to her beliefs; she later argues that “If we got a divorce, you wouldn’t have a subversive wife… and that would solve everything, wouldn’t it?” In the other, Katie—who had stepped back from activism to advance Hubbell’s career—feels guilt upon seeing a younger, vocal activist giving a UCLA speech and being heckled.
The film’s political focus predated and presaged the era’s real-world tensions. The Blu-ray restoration also underscores the tension between an artist’s political identity and their work, a theme Streisand has revisited in interviews and memoirs. Sydney Pollack, the film’s director, has said he shortened the movie after initial test screenings because he felt the politics were too heavy for audiences; Streisand has written that while she agreed with Pollack on some cut scenes, removing others “destroyed the soul of Katie’s character” and, in her view, part of her own artistic identity. Her memoirs, released in 2023, also recount tension with producer Ray Stark and Columbia Pictures over how the film should handle political content, with Streisand noting Nixon-era HUAC pressure was a backdrop to the production.
Streisand used her memory of Redford to honor a collaborator she described in her 2002 Oscars-era reminiscences as “one of the finest actors ever,” noting in a recent post that their real-life friendship echoed the film’s themes of misaligned worlds and the costs of ideological conflict. The tribute also touched on Redford’s longevity and impact, with Streisand recalling how their work together on The Way We Were produced moments of “excitement, intensity, and pure joy.”
The discourse surrounding Streisand’s post intersects with ongoing conversations in Hollywood about politics, memory, and how cinema archives preserve past debates. As Kimmel’s show resumed, the broader conversation about the relationship between entertainment, political discourse, and accountability continued to unfold. The Way We Were remains a touchstone for discussions about how personal relationships are tested by public conviction, a theme that Streisand’s post suggests resonates anew in a moment of fast-moving media scrutiny.