Barbra Streisand’s Attempt to Question Laraine Newman about Her 1977 ‘SNL’ Impression was Unsuccessful: “I Didn’t Want to Talk to Her”

Laraine Newman, an alum of Saturday Night Live, disclosed on Watch What Happens Live on Tuesday night (Feb. 11) that she skillfully avoided a potential confrontation with Barbra Streisand regarding her impersonation of the iconic singer at a bar mitzvah many years ago.

This revelation unfolded during a visit from Newman and other SNL veterans – Ana Gasteyer, Cecily Strong, Cheri Oteri, and Rachel Dratch – on the show, where host Andy Cohen inquired about any encounters they may have had with celebrities they parodied on the comedy series.

Among the group, Newman was the first to share her experience about the attempted confrontation by the renowned star over her portrayal from 1977.

“[Writer] Marilyn Miller wrote this incredible song called ‘Me,’” she remembered, referring to the former SNL writer. “And the lyrics are great. You know, ‘Even if one of my films sucks, it still makes four million bucks for me.’ And she hadn’t seen it.”

Things took a turn when Newman was attending her “son’s friend’s bar mitzvah,” where Streisand was performing.

“She says, ‘I wanna talk to you,’” she continued. “I left. I didn’t wanna talk to her.”

The others named Judge Judy (Oteri), Judge Jeanine Pirro (Strong), Calista Flockhart (Dratch), and Martha Stewart, Celine Dion, and Jo Anne Worley (Gasteyer) as some of the stars who have addressed their impressions with them, though most were positive interactions. Other SNL icons have dealt with such confrontations face to face this week as they promote the show’s 50th anniversary celebration.

On Monday (Feb. 10), Amy Poehler co-hosted Today with Jenna & Friends with Jenna Bush Hager, whom Poehler impersonated in the 2005 sketch “The Bush Twins’ Secret Language” alongside Tina Fey as Bush Hager’s sister, Barbara. While Poehler admitted she was “totally sweating” watching the sketch back with Bush Hager, Bush Hager was a good sport, though she teased, “I could have been there, I wish you would have called me for research!”

Meanwhile Leslie Jones joined The View‘s Hot Topics Table on Wednesday (Feb. 12), where Whoopi Goldberg chatted with Jones about her and Kenan Thompson‘s impressions of the Hot Topics table.