Liza Minnelli claims she was forced to sit in a wheelchair while she presented at the 2022 Academy Awards.
Minnelli, now 79, took the stage that night alongside Lady Gaga as her co-presenter to announce the winner for Best Picture.
She originally planned to sit in a director’s chair for the presentation, but the plans were changed at the last minute, she says in her forthcoming memoir, “Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!”
“I was inexplicably ordered — not even asked — to sit in a wheelchair or not appear at all. I was told it was because of my age, and for safety reasons, because I might slip out of the director’s chair, which was bulls—,” Minnelli writes, according to an excerpt published by People on Friday.
“I will not be treated this way, I said. My co-presenter insisted she would not go on stage with me unless I was in a wheelchair,” she adds, noting that she was “heartbroken.”
“I was much lower down than I would have been in the director’s chair. Now I couldn’t easily read the teleprompter above me. How would you feel if you were wheeled out, against your will, to perform in front of a live audience, and unable to see clearly?” she continues.
Minnelli appeared somewhat disoriented on stage and stumbled over her words. Gaga comforted Minnelli by telling her, “I got you.”
While the moment left her feeling upset, the “Cabaret” actress commended Gaga for her kind gesture after they exited the stage.
“So when I stumbled over a few words, Gaga, who was at my side, didn’t miss a beat to play the kindhearted hero for all the world to see. ‘I got you,’ she said, leaning down over me,” Minnelli shares.
After hearing of Minnelli’s discomfort, the “Bad Romance” singer made her way to Minnelli’s dressing room for a visit where she asked her, “Are you okay?”
“I looked at her and said simply, ‘I’m a big fan.’ I learned this lesson years ago from Mama and Papa [Judy Garland and Vincente Minelli]. At a moment of high stress, you stay gracious,” she writes.
Minnelli continues, “The winner for best picture that year was ‘CODA.’ I loved the irony of the title for me Writing my memoir would be my coda, my truth. There’s always a rainbow — if you know where to look for it.”
Elsewhere in her book, the Hollywood icon discusses her many high-profile romances, her sobriety journey and her various celebrity escapades with friends.
“Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!” will be published on March 10 by Grand Central Publishing. The book is currently available for preorder.
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