(Brian Marks’s article appeared in the Daily Mail, 4/19; via Pam Green.)
FRAIL LIZA MINNELLI, 76, FELT ‘SHAKEN’ AND ‘SABOTAGED’ AFTER BEING FORCED ON STAGE IN WHEELCHAIR AT OSCARS INSTEAD OF SEATED IN DIRECTOR’S CHAIR AS PLANNED, CLAIMS HER FRIEND
- Singer Michael Feinstein claimed that Minnelli was suffering from ‘back trouble’
- He said she wanted to sit in a director’s chair at the Oscars so as not to ‘limp’
- After Will Smith’s shocking slap, she was told to use a wheelchair at last minute
- Feinstein said she was ‘nervous’ and ‘shaken’ because of the switch-up
- Viewers worried that the actress appeared frail next to Lady Gaga
Liza Minnelli‘s friend Michael Feinstein has come to her defense after viewers worried that she looked frail and out of it when she presented Best Picture at the 2022 Academy Awards with Lady Gaga.
During an appearance Monday on SirusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show, Feinstein, 65, claimed that the 76-year-old acting and singing legend had been ‘sabotaged’ by Oscars organizers at the last minute.
He said the plan had been for Minnelli to appear seated in a director’s chair, but that she was forced to use a wheelchair at the last minute, which left her flustered and ‘discombobulated.
Feinstein, an acclaimed jazz singer who focuses on standards, said he was in attendance at the Oscar with Minnelli. He claimed that she had wanted to do her presentation sitting down due to back pain issues.
‘You know, that whole thing was, she was sabotaged. That’s the terrible word to use, but she only agreed to appear on the Oscars if she would be in the director’s chair, cuz she’s been having back trouble,’ he explained.
