Liza bites back at Gest

In the most eagerly anticipated Hollywood sequel of the year, Liza Minnelli has hit back at her estranged husband, David Gest, with her own lawsuit that calls him a thief.

In court papers made public last night, the singer accuses Mr Gest of "improper conduct" that includes stealing her money, humiliating her in public and driving away her friends.

Only last month, the Cabaret star was left reeling by accusations from her 50-year-old husband that she had attacked him in a vodka-fuelled rage at London's Connaught Hotel.

He is suing her for £7million, claiming the assault has left him with permanent brain damage.

Now Minnelli is giving her side of the story, filing a claim for nearly £1.5 million at the New York Supreme Court that lays bare the business deal underpinning their bizarre marriage of barely a year.

Lawyers for the 57-year-old entertainer want the courts to order a full investigation into Mr Gest's financial records, saying the producer engaged in a "wholesale pattern of improper conduct".

Describing Minnelli as "a uniquely talented actress, singer, dancer and entertainer", the lawsuit says she agreed to place her then fading career in the hands of Mr Gest in exchange for a 10 per cent cut in her earnings.

But things changed after the couple married, in a glittering showbiz wedding in New York that included Elizabeth Taylor as a maid of honour and Michael Jackson carrying the bride's train.

Soon after, Minnelli's representatives began questioning expenses deducted by Mr Gest and his business partners, and now say they were refused access to his accounts.

Instead, the court papers claim, Mr Gest "put his interests before her interests", saying he "failed to conduct himself with the level of trust, honesty and fair dealing which he owed Minnelli as her agent".

Mr Gest and his associates then "began to take monies for themselves", Minnelli's lawyers claim, adding that he also refused to take on new projects unless he was involved.

"Gest constantly berated Minnelli in public and began holding himself out as the 'star'," her lawyers say, flatly contradicting reports that it was the singer who abused her husband, often when drunk. As a result, they claim in the lawsuit, "his conduct became so offensive that people in the entertainment industry began refusing to work with Minnelli, or participate in projects in which Minnelli was involved if Gest was involved."

Later the producer is said to have "embarked on a campaign to fire any people who were working for Minnelli and questioned Gest's business practices and ethics".

The court papers say what they call the "business arrangements" between the couple were " terminated" on 12 June this year - two days after the alleged incident at the Connaught.

Minnelli, the daughter of Wizard Of Oz star Judy Garland, began divorce proceedings at the end of last month, claiming that Mr Gest, who is widely credited with helping her beat substance abuse, was "cruel and inhuman".

Mr Gest is said to be recovering from the effects of Minnelli's blows at a clinic in Hawaii, but his lawyer, Raoul Felder, today claimed his client had "laid out millions of dollars" to produce his wife's shows and ended up losing much of the money.

Saying "she owes him money," Mr Felder added: "He was married to her, so he wrote it off. When they got married, she wasn't going anywhere and I don't think she's worked since they broke up."