Liza Minnelli shoots at everyone in her memoirs: Lady Gaga, her husbands and her addictions are revealed

BarcelonaSeen from a perspective, the 2022 Oscars ceremony can be described as a source of monumental gossip. Because, as we have just learned, on the same evening that became tragically historic because Will Smith went on stage to slap Chris Rock for making a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett, a betrayal was cooked up for none other than Liza Minnelli. As the artist explained in her memoir, which she very skillfully titled Kids, wait till you hear this! –Children, wait till you hear this!, in Catalan–, Hollywood's last historical muse does not have a good memory of that night, in which the Academy had invited her to present the most prized Oscar of the night, that for best film, which she did alongside none other than Lady Gaga.

Although at first glance it might seem that the context prepared for her was ideal for a triumphant entrance, the daughter of the mythical Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz and Vincente Minnelli considers that the night was not up to what it should have been. The blame would lie with a last-minute change of plans that went against what had been previously agreed, which was that the star of Cabaret would be seated next to Gaga in a typical film director's chair. “Inexplicably, I was ordered —not even asked— to sit in a wheelchair or not appear [at the ceremony]. They told me it was for my age and for safety, because I could slip out of the director's chair, which is nonsense. I told them not to treat me like that. My co-presenter [Lady Gaga], however, insisted that she would not go on stage with me if I wasn't in a wheelchair,” says Minnelli, who assures that she felt –humiliated” by her stage companion because she treated her “as if I were an idiot”.

'Show must go on'

“It broke my heart. [Sitting in the wheelchair] I was much lower than I would have been in the director's chair. I couldn't easily read the teleprompter in front of me. How would you feel if you were wheeled out, against your will, to perform in front of a live audience and you couldn't see clearly? So, when I stumbled over a few words, Gaga, who was next to me, didn't waste time playing the role of the kind heroine for everyone to see. “I got you,” she said, leaning over me,” the artist recalls bitterly. Despite that change of plans, she carried on, as one would expect from someone with such 100% Hollywood DNA as hers.

The truth is that perhaps he had longed for that moment so much that, seen later from home and/or read later in the press, he regretted that it did not turn out perfect. While it is true that perhaps he could not read the teleprompter well because of the chair where they made him sit, perhaps certain vision problems also helped. In fact, if that video is recovered, it can be understood that Minnelli's problem is not just about reading the script, but broader, like his location within the rundown and also a lack of reflexes. If you can't read exactly what you're supposed to but know you have to give way to the list of candidates, you can improvise the sentence, which that day our dear and admired Liza found difficult.

Resounding

In any case, the affection of Hollywood and viewers worldwide for her was unquestionable that night. And in the hypothetical case that it didn't get a 10 – because of her or whoever – nothing happened either. Because at this point in the film, Minnelli has earned heaven. And if anyone is not clear about it, they can confirm it by reading her memoirs, which have been on sale in the United States for 20 days and continue to generate headlines, which is normal if we consider that nothing has been left unsaid. To someone who has so internalized what it is to be a star, such sincerity should be thanked. At 80 years old, this woman whom some wanted to pass off as too senile has understood the signs of the times better than anyone: in the world of realities and social networks, you can only emerge victorious if you speak plainly.

Regarding her four failed marriages, she hasn't held back. Of her first husband, Peter Allen, to whom she was married at 21, she explains that one day upon returning from shopping she found him in her own bed "having passionate sex". "With a man", she clarifies. The scene, she says, caused "both of them" to "start crying". "He told me for the first time that he loved me more than anyone, but that he was gay". Knowing the drama of that homosexual turned her into an activist to this day and, far from hating him, they were friends until he died. How many divas haven't married a gay fan. The difference is that she found out...

"I wasn't sober when I married that clown"

From her third husband, sculptor Mark Gero, she explains that she lived through a period of abuse and control. Furthermore, this coincided with two miscarriages. “The inability to become a mother is a tragedy I will never overcome”, she says about it. Finally, regarding her fourth husband, she regrets having celebrated a wedding costing 3.2 million dollars with Michael Jackson as godfather, which only served for him to empty her accounts. “Clearly, I was not sober when I married that clown”, she summarizes about David Gest, about whom she adds: "He wore more makeup than I do. Whenever I looked for my false eyelashes, I would check his bathroom". “By marrying this individual, I got a bargain version of the worst mistakes my mother made with men”.

Minnelli also has words for the men she didn't marry. Perhaps the most notable are for Martin Scorsese, of whom she says they were "the best-kept secret on set." The actress refers to the film New York, New York, where a love story and passion began between them that "had more layers than lasagna." "We were both Italians. Passionate. Intense... Marty became an increasingly avid consumer of cocaine. And I was by his side. Line after line. Nothing good could come of it," she recalls.

Cruelly sincere

If she doesn't mince words when acknowledging love failures of all kinds, she is not self-complacent either when talking about addictions. For example, she recounts how in 2000 she lied when she said that the viral encephalitis that almost sent her to the other side was due to a bite, since in reality the problem was her addiction to OxyContin, a potent opioid painkiller. She is also very transparent when talking about the events she starred in in 2003, when she ended up drunk and practically in an alcoholic coma on a New York sidewalk, the city where she arrived with 500 dollars lent by Frank Sinatra when she was 16 years old and where she almost found such an undignified death. “Hundreds of people walked over or around my body... Did they see a homeless person or did they look closer and see Liza Minnelli?”, she asks herself before saying that it was Liz Taylor who took her to rehabilitation once and for all and that now she has finally gone clean.

But Liza Minnelli's life is also exceptional for more reasons than all the setbacks she has suffered. After having survived her mother's addictions – with whom she also fled hotels at midnight because they couldn't pay – and her own, Minnelli has great stories to tell. For example, that at 19 she won a Tony for a leading role on Broadway that her mother had always desired and never obtained. And it is also epic for all the headlines she always has ready: "I was the first "}nepo baby" or "I'll probably be buried dressed as Halston. I won't be cremated, why ruin a great look?". Studio 54 closed in February 1980, but she, attitude-wise, is still living there. But sober. Where do I sign?