When Liza Minnelli and Lady Gaga took the stage at the 2022 Oscars to present the final award of the night, the crowd erupted into applause.
“Do you see that? The public, they love you,” Gaga said as she leaned in and grabbed the then 76-year-old’s hand.
The two shared a sweet moment on stage that later went viral, but while fans praised the two actresses, Minnelli was reportedly unhappy with her appearance that night.
In a recent interview with People, Minnelli, 78, spoke about her decision to write a memoir – something she had been asked to do for quite some time.
“‘Absolutely not! ‘Tell it when I’m gone!’ Was my philosophy,” she said.
It wasn’t until a “series of unfortunate events” including “a sabotaged appearance at the Oscars,” “a film with twisted half-truths ” and “a recent miniseries that just didn’t get it right … All made by people who didn’t know my family, and don’t really know me” that she changed her mind.
She decided it was time to write a book.
“Finally, I was mad as hell!” the actress and singer said. “Over dinner one night, I decided, it’s my own damn story … I’m gonna share it with you because of all the love you’ve given me.”
Michael Feinstein, a close friend and collaborator on her memoir, claimed the star was “forced” to use a wheelchair at the Academy Awards despite wanting to appear on stage in a director’s chair.
“Sabotaged. That’s a terrible word to use but she only agreed to appear on the Oscars if she was in a director’s chair, because she’s been having back trouble,” Feinstein said on SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show.
“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.’”
“Then literally five minutes before she went on, when she sat in the director’s chair back there, and because I guess they were all shaken up because of everything that had happened earlier,” Feinstein said, alluding to the slap. “The stage manager said, ‘Well, she has to be in a wheelchair.’”
“She was nervous,” he explained. “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.”
Minnelli thanked all the fans who have expressed their concern over her health and assured them she’s “still here, still kicking ass, still loving life and still creating.”
“So, until this book arrives, know that I’m laughing, safe in every way, surrounded by loved ones and excited to see what’s right around the curve of life. Kids, wait ‘til you hear this.”
Minnelli’s memoir is expected to be published in spring 2026.
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READ MORE:
- Liza Minnelli, 78, spotted for the first time in a year
- Lady Gaga and Liza Minnelli share sweet moment during Oscars ceremony: ‘I got you’
