Liza Minnelli was “sabotaged” at the Oscars after being brought on stage in a wheelchair against her wishes, her long-time friend has claimed.
Liza May Minnelli is an American actress, singer, dancer, and choreographer. Known for her commanding stage presence and powerful alto singing voice, Minnelli is among a rare group of performers awarded an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony. Her friend, Michael Jay Feinstein is an American singer, pianist, and music revivalist. He is an interpreter of and an anthropologist and archivist for the repertoire known as the Great American Songbook. In 1988 he won a Drama Desk Special Award for celebrating American musical theatre songs.
According to Feinstein, a stage manager informed her just minutes before her appearance that she’d be seated in a wheelchair rather than a director’s chair. It is not known whether Minnelli was originally supposed to be wheeled on to stage and then transferred to the chair during an ad break or whether she was intended to walk with aid to the chair.
“She was nervous,” said Feinstein, “and it made her look like she was out of it. Can you imagine being suddenly forced to be seen by millions of people the way you don’t want to be seen? That’s what happened to her.” According to The Guardian.
Minnelli and Gaga’s presentation of the best picture prize to Coda provided a relatively calm close to a show overshadowed by events an hour or so earlier, when Will Smith slapped presenter Chris Rock on stage.
