Liza Minnelli was “forced” to perform against her will in a wheelchair at last month’s Oscars, a longtime collaborator claims.
Michael Feinstein, a singer and pianist and friend of Minnelli, said her performance at the end of the ceremony, where she presented the best picture award alongside Lady Gaga, left her “very disappointed”.
“She only agreed to appear at the Oscars if she would sit in a director’s chair because of back problems,” Feinstein said Tuesday on SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show.
“She said, ‘I don’t want people to see me limp out there.’ She said, “You know, I want to look good. I don’t want people to worry about me.’”
Minnelli and Gaga’s presentation of the best picture award to Coda made for a relatively quiet conclusion to a show marred by events an hour earlier, when Will Smith slapped host Chris Rock onstage.
This disruption “shook up” the organizers, Feinstein claimed, causing them to abruptly change the plan for Minnelli. According to Feinstein, a stage manager told her just minutes before her performance that she would be in a wheelchair rather than a director’s chair.
Applause… Gaga and Minnelli were praised for their collaboration. Photo: Neilson Barnard/Getty ImagesIt is unknown if Minnelli was originally intended to be wheeled onto the stage and then placed in the chair during a commercial break, or if she was intended to walk to the chair with assistance.
“She was nervous,” Feinstein said, “and looked like she was upset. Can you imagine suddenly being seen by millions of people in a way you don’t want to be seen? That happened to her.”
Earlier this year, Feinstein and Minnelli performed as a duet on Embraceable You for Feinstein’s latest album, Gershwin Country.
Gaga and Minnelli have been praised by audiences and critics for their warm and collaborative nature. The pair have been close for more than a decade, and last month, Minnelli’s former publicist, Scott Gorenstein, told People her appearance at the Oscars was at Gaga’s direct request.