Liza Minnelli has hit out at the Academy in her new memoir, claiming she was forced to appear in a wheelchair at the 2022 Oscars.
In her new book, Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!, the Cabaret icon looked back at presenting the Academy Award for Best Picture alongside Lady Gaga, where she seemed somewhat disoriented on stage and stumbled over her words. Many noted that Gaga appeared aware of this and comforted Minnelli in the moment, telling her, “I got you”.
Minnelli was in a wheelchair at the time, which she alleges was mandated by the Academy, despite expecting to be sat in a director’s chair with a better view of the teleprompter. When plans said to have been changed at the last minute, she claims the Academy changed course and had her sit in the wheelchair to prioritise her safety.
“I was inexplicably ordered — not even asked — to sit in a wheelchair or not appear at all,” Minnelli wrote, per Variety. “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 bullshit. I will not be treated this way, I said. I 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?” Minnelli continued.
“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.”
It echoes claims a friend of the star made that year, when signer and pianist Michael Feinstein – who co-wrote the new book alongside Minelli – said she had been “sabotaged”, (per The Guardian).
“That’s a terrible word to use,” he said at the time, “but she only agreed to appear on the Oscars if she would be in a director’s chair, because she’s been having back trouble.
“She said, ‘I don’t want people to see me limping out there.’ She said, ‘You know, I want to look good. I don’t want people to worry about me.’”
Minnelli went on to praise Gaga, who came to her dressing room after learning of her distress to check in on her.
“I looked at her and said simply, ‘I’m a big fan,’” Minnelli wrote. “I learned this lesson years ago from Mama and Papa. At a moment of high stress, you stay gracious. The winner for best picture that year was [Sian Heder’s] 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.”
Minnelli’s Kids, Wait Till You Hear This! is set for release on March 10 – you can find more details here.