In an excerpt published by People<\/a> on Friday, Minnelli writes, \u201cI clearly wasn\u2019t sober when I married this clown.\u201d <\/p>\n Minnelli, 79, is the daughter of Judy Garland and Vincente Minnelli. In her book, she recounts her struggles with addiction, her relationship with her famous mother, and how she\u2019s navigated fame. She married Gest at 56, after a decades-long, public battle with substance abuse<\/a>. Gest, who was 48 at the time, would ultimately sue the star for spousal abuse<\/a>, claiming that she\u2019d attack him in drunk rages. Minnelli has denied those claims.<\/p>\n \u201cGest was a fast-talking, wheeler-dealer promoter who wore more makeup than I did,\u201d she writes of the celebrity producer, then most known for producing Michael Jackson\u2019s 30th September 2001 concert special at Madison Square Garden. The mega event is where Minnelli and Gest first met. <\/p>\n \u201cFast-forward to our $3.2 million wedding extravaganza on March 16, 2002. Michael Jackson was David\u2019s best man. Elizabeth Taylor was my matron of honor,\u201d she writes. \u201cI found out that the freebies Gest couldn\u2019t wrangle from the hotel and celebrities, he charged to American Express. My American Express card!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBoy, did he have a line: \u2018Liza, you deserve to be the biggest star in the world.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The secret credit card charges weren\u2019t the worst of it, Minnelli writes in the book. <\/p>\n \u201cHe didn\u2019t just control everything I ate, from morning until night. He controlled the people I saw and spoke to on the phone. He screened my calls. In truth, I was his prisoner.\u201d <\/p>\n Minnelli filed for divorce just 16 months later and never married again. Before Gest, Minnelli had been wed to musician Peter Allen, director and film producer Jack Haley Jr., and sculptor and stage manager Mark Gero.<\/p>\n \u201cIdeally, I\u2019d like to date an older, elegant man who speaks beautifully and is filthy rich,\u201d she writes. \u201cThen I\u2019d like to date a 40-year-old guy who is passionate about something. I don\u2019t care what. Then I\u2019d like to date an 18-year-old, who I see twice a week and whose name I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n As for her battle with addiction, Minnelli writes, \u201cThese days, if someone offers me a glass of champagne at a party, I thank them, and put it down without a sip. Medication is a different story. I still have lower back pain, and I do get anxious from time to time. But the drugs are now strictly controlled. And baby, there\u2019s no going back.\u201d<\/p>\n Gest died of a cerebral hemorrhage at age 62 in 2016. <\/p>\n Obsessed with pop culture and entertainment? Follow us on Substack<\/a> and YouTube<\/a> for even more coverage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hollywood legend Liza Minnelli reveals her regrets about her 16-month marriage to the late producer David Gest in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":489204,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[49,48,361,75,196684],"class_list":{"0":"post-489203","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-celebrities","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-liza-minnelli"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=489203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489203\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/489204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=489203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=489203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=489203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"David](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/CZUURAUTZ5B43DWUAHT3UCU3L4.jpg\")
Minnelli wrote that during their brief, tumultuous marriage, she was Gest’s “prisoner.” Jeff Kravitz\/FilmMagic, Inc <\/p>\n![\"David](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/PH2JVYNP5FAMBJUBNJG3SO372Y.jpg\")
Minelli wrote that her late ex-husband “wore more makeup than I did.” ADRIAN DENNIS\/AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\n