Liza Minnelli has officially been given her director’s chair moment after criticizing the Oscars for putting her in a wheelchair on stage.
The 79-year-old legendary entertainer made a surprise appearance at the 2026 GLAAD Media Awards on Thursday (March 5) at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Liza received GLAAD’s Inaugural Liza Minnelli Storyteller Award in honor of her upcoming memoir “Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!” The award was presented to her by longtime friend Michael Feinstein.
While appearing on stage, Liza sat in a director’s chair that was wheeled to the front of the stage as dancers performed around her.
In her memoir, Liza criticizes the Oscars for allegedly forcing her to sit in a wheelchair while presenting with Lady Gaga at the 2022 Oscars.
“I was inexplicably ordered — not even asked — to sit in a wheelchair or not appear at all. I was told it was because of my age, and for safety reasons, because I might slip out of the director’s chair, which was nonsense. I will not be treated this way, I said. My co-presenter insisted she would not go on stage with me unless I was in a wheelchair,” Liza wrote in the book.
