Liza Minnelli 'shaken' as she was 'forced' to use wheelchair at Oscars, claims friend

express.co.uk:

Oscars sparked concern after she took to the stage in a wheelchair, along with fumbling her lines. Her close friend Michael Feinstein, 65, claimed in a recent interview that Liza did not want to be seen in a wheelchair and was originally planned to sit in a director's chair due to her "back trouble".Liza took to the stage with Lady Gaga to present the Best Picture at the 2022 Academy Awards.Lady Gaga wheeled Liza out on stage and helped her with her cue cards, causing fans to worry about her frail appearance.The singer's friend, Michael, alleged during an appearance on SiriusXM's The Jess Cagle Show that Liza felt "sabotaged" by the award show.Michael attended the Oscars with Liza and claims she told the crew how she wanted to do her presentation sitting down due to back pain issues.He claimed: "You know, that whole thing was, she was sabotaged. "That's the terrible word to use, but she only agreed to appear at the Oscars if she would be in the director's chair, cuz she's been having back trouble." (sic)Michael further claimed that Liza was worried about what the televised audience would think of her and wanted to look as "good" as she could.Although the plan was for Liza to sit in the director's chair, chaos had erupted after Will Smith shockingly slapped Chris Rock.Express.co.uk have contacted the Oscars for comment.It was then "five minutes" before she was due to take the stage that the stage manager reportedly announced: "Well, she has to be in a wheelchair."According to the Michael, she said: "No, I will not be seen in a wheelchair in front of everybody.