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Liza Minnelli had been taken “great advantage of” by her former husband, David Gest, and other business personnel, her close friend Michael Feinstein reveals. The musical icon’s frequent collaborator and confidant opened up about helping her through bad business deals after a former manager had stolen millions of dollars from her.
While appearing on Gyles Brandreth’s Rosebud Podcast, Feinstein shared that he thinks he has given her a “great last act” after she had been “treated horribly by the people around her.”
“They stole everything from her,” he stated. “This was up until about 15 years ago. I mean, she had a road manager who stole millions from her. Literally millions. That’s no exaggeration.”
He went on to elaborate that the last time she was on Broadway, Minnelli found out that she was “not making any money,” which led to them uncovering that she had “business people on retainer” who were stealing money from her.
“The last big thing she did on Broadway was ‘Minnelli on Minnelli’ or ‘Liza at the Palace,’ I don’t remember, but we had lunch and she said, ‘Why am I not making any money? This is selling out and I am not making any money.’ So she and my husband, Terrence, were looking at the financials and started seeing things where people were taking money and then she had business people on retainer who were charging her $25,000 a month for nothing.”
Feinstein went on to say that it took years to clean up her poor business dealings.
The recording artist also opened up about Minnelli’s marriage to David Gest, who she was married to from 2002 to 2007.
“He was an awful person,” Feinstein said. “He took great advantage of her. He told her that she would never have to work again, and he was gonna support her and they were gonna have this wonderful life.”
When asked why she went through with the highly-publicized marriage, Feinstein says that Minnelli wanted to believe that “charming” façade that Gest put on.
“She believed him. She liked him. He put on his best behavior with her and he could be very charming. But I think she wanted to believe him and I think she wanted a way out because she needed help at that time.”
Feinstein and Minnelli have a deep, 40-year friendship, with Feinstein most recently serving as co-writer and interviewer on Liza’s memoir, Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!
Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos
