Liza Minnelli's Friend Claims She Was 'Forced' Onstage At The Oscars
Topics: Celebrity, Oscars, Film and TV, Lady Gaga
Abbi Murray
Featured Image Credit: Credit: Alamy
Topics: Celebrity, Oscars, Film and TV, Lady Gaga
At last month’s infamous Oscars ceremony, Liza Minnelli made a rare public appearance alongside Lady Gaga.
After leaving fame behind in recent years, the 76-year-old graced the stage to present the award for Best Picture.
However, viewers expressed their concern over Liza’s health, noting that she was in a wheelchair and appeared to be out of sorts.
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Now, Liza’s long-time friend Michael Feinstein has lifted the lid on what exactly went on behind the scenes of her Oscars appearance.
Appearing on The Jess Cagle Show on SiriusXM, Michael boldly claimed that Liza was ‘sabotaged’ by ceremony bosses after they forced her to use a wheelchair moments before she was due to go on stage.
“She was sabotaged,” he said plainly. “That’s a terrible word to use, but she only agreed to appear on the Oscars if she would be in the director’s chair, because she’s been having back trouble and she said, ‘I don’t want people to see me limping out there’.
“She said, ‘You know, I wanna look good. I don’t want people to worry about me.’”
However, due to a certain incident involving Will Smith and Chris Rock, the stage manager made a last-minute decision regarding Liza’s appearance.
He continued: “Literally, literally five minutes before she went on, when she sat in the director’s chair back there, and because every — I guess they were all shaken up because of everything that had happened earlier — the stage manager said, ‘Well, she has to be in a wheelchair’.
“And Liza pleaded. She said, ‘No, I will not be seen in a wheelchair in front of everybody. I will not do this. I refuse to do this’.
“And they said, ‘Well, it’s either that or nothing’. And so I said, I was there. I said, ‘What do you wanna do?’ And she said, ‘I’ll do it.’"
“She was so shaken that she was discombobulated," he continued. "She was nervous. It made her look like she was out of it.
“She was just so shaken up. Can you imagine being suddenly forced to be seen by millions of people the way you don’t wanna be seen? That’s what happened to her."
“And she was very disappointed at that, that that happened, and it was not what was agreed to. She is really doing well, and it’s a shame that it turned out that way. She was very disappointed," he finished.
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