13:30
Online
Lady Gaga sparked outrage among disability rights groups by taking to the stage at a show in Sydney last week dressed in a mermaid's tail and sitting in a wheelchair. Midler has now spoken out to insist she invented the routine in the 1980s.
In a series of posts on Twitter, Midler writes, "I'm not sure Lady Gaga knows that I've performed my mermaid in a wheelchair for millions of people - and many of them are still alive ... Dear Lady Gaga if you think a mermaid in a wheelchair seems familiar - it's because it is! You can see it on youtube 24/7 - with ME performing it ... Dear Lady Gaga I've been doing singing mermaid in a wheelchair since 1980 - You can keep the meat dress and the firecracker t--s -- mermaid's mine."
