Lady Gaga: I Didn't Know Bette Midler Had Wheelchair Alter Ego

Lady Gaga has denied she copied Bette Midler by unveiling a new wheelchair-bound alter ego.

The singer attracted criticism when she showcased her new stage character Yuyi during a gig in Sydney last week.

On Twitter, Midler then accused Lady Gaga of stealing her idea from her own wheelchair-bound alter ego Delores Delago, who she first performed as in 1978.
 
Speaking to Access Hollywood, Lady Gaga said: “I had no idea that she did that and I'm a huge Bette Midler fan.”

Asked if her routine was a tribute to Midler, she replied: "Not in the beginning it wasn't 'cause I didn't know that she'd done [it], but I do now and I think it's great.

“Obviously I feel connected to women in theater and women from the past. Maybe we're just cut from the same cloth.”

“I couldn't hop around in that tail so I just stuck myself in a wheelchair,” she added.

Lady Gaga performs in a wheelchair: