Barbra Streisand Once Cancelled a Jimmy Kimmel Appearance Because She Wasn’t Able to Sit on Her “Best Side”

Barbra Streisand is no less a legend than she was in the ’90s and aughts, when she had her last major run of film roles, but there is a reason that you don’t see more of her on late-night TV—at least on Jimmy Kimmel. The talk show host revealed why that is when he sat down with Andy Cohen for an interview on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.

When Cohen asked Kimmel about guests who are inflexible about the camera showing their “best side,” Kimmel answered and gave specifics. “If a guest wants you to swap around your set so the camera gets their best side, do you refuse?” Cohen asked, adding, “I’ve had to switch seats for Mariah Carey four times.”

Kimmel isn’t as generous with seat switching as Cohen, though, as he said, “I’ve had a guest ask for that and I said no.”

When pressed by Cohen, who asked, “Really? Was it Streisand?” Kimmel confirmed it was, saying, “Yes.” Apparently, Kimmel wasn’t exactly against seat switching; he just refused to do so if he wouldn’t be able to joke about it and note the obvious weirdness of the new arrangement—something that the audience would surely pick up on. “It was the condition,” he explained. “The condition was we couldn’t talk about the fact that we’d switched around, and I was like, ‘I just don’t see how this will work.’”

Interestingly, Streisand has gotten Jimmy Fallon to switch seats with her. She did so in 2014 to promote her then-new album Partners. At the time, Fallon went out of the way to make the seating come across as his own suggestion. “This is the first time you’re here in over 50 years, I think you should sit at the desk,” he told Streisand, who flashed her best on-demand surprise face and replied, “You’re kidding, right?” Fallon followed that up by joking, “Let’s be honest, you’re never coming back here.”

“Any time you want it back, please take it back,” Streisand said, which we now know was clearly for show. Honestly, though, when you’ve been an icon for over 50 years, you should be able to sit wherever you please.