Liza Minnelli has claimed that ahead of her appearance at the Oscars in 2022, she was ‘inexplicably ordered’ to sit in a wheelchair, writing that she had been informed it was ‘because of her age’Daniel Bird Assistant Celebrity and Entertainment Editor
21:39, 21 Feb 2026Updated 21:40, 21 Feb 2026
Liza has claimed bosses said the decision was for her own safety(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Liza Minnelli has lashed out at the Oscars after she was “ordered” to sit in a wheelchair. The Cabaret legend, 79, appeared at the ceremony in 2022, alongside singer and actress Lady Gaga, as they presented the Best Picture award.
However, during their appearance on stage, Liza appeared to stumble over her words, before Gaga stepped in to comfort her, saying: “I got you.” At the time, Liza was sitting in a wheelchair, despite her believing she would be sitting in a director’s chair, so she would have a clear view of the autocue and script for the big moment.
However, in her forthcoming memoir, the Oscar-winning actress has hit out at the Academy and claimed that they forced her to sit in a wheelchair. This decision, she claims, affected her ability to read the autocue, leading her to mess up her lines. Gaga wheeled Liza onto the stage and had hoped to have Minnelli sing a song from the 1972 hit, Cabaret.
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Liza appeared alongside Lady Gaga to present the Best Picture award for Coda(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Writing in Kids, Wait Till You Hear This, Liza claimed: “I was inexplicably ordered — not even asked — to sit in a wheelchair or not appear at all.” She added: “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 b******t.”
In the extract, published by Variety, Judy Garland’s daughter went on to write: “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? 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.”
The actress said she was furious over the decision(Image: Getty Images)
A collaborator of Minnell claimed that she had been ‘sabotaged'(Image: Getty Images)
Liza claims that before going on stage, Lady Gaga became aware of her distress and instantly rushed to her dressing room to offer support. Previously, signer and pianist Michael Feinstein, who co-wrote Liza’s new book alongside the star, claimed that she had been “sabotaged”.
He said on SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show: “She only agreed to appear at 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.'”
Feinstein, a long-time collaborator of Minnelli, claims she was informed of the decision to seat her in a wheelchair moments before she was due to go on stage to present the award to Coda. The Guardian quotes Feinstein as saying Minnelli was “sabotaged”.
In her memoir, Liza opens up about becoming her mother’s caretaker, aged just 13. “A nurse, doctor, pharmacologist and psychiatrist rolled into one,” she wrote. She adds: “I lost count of the times I called doctors to say she’d run out of pills. I’d say: ‘I’m a kid! Please fill my mama’s prescription!”‘
Liza was 23 when her mother died from an accidental overdose. The legendary actress was found at her home in London by her husband, Mickey Deans.
Kids, Wait Til You Hear This! is to be released on March 10. The Mirror has approached the Academy Awards for comment.
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