Lead: In her new memoir Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!, Liza Minnelli recounts a passionate extramarital relationship with director Martin Scorsese during the mid-1970s that coincided with escalating cocaine use. The liaison unfolded while they worked on the 1977 musical New York, New York, at a time when Minnelli was married to Jack Haley Jr. and Scorsese to Julia Cameron. Minnelli says the pair’s recreational drug use became daily and consuming, affecting on-set and off-set behavior. The relationship eventually ended; Minnelli reports relief when Scorsese later addressed his addictions, though some personal wounds persisted.
Key Takeaways
- Affair timeframe: Minnelli describes a passionate extramarital relationship with Martin Scorsese in the mid-1970s during production of New York, New York (1977).
- Drug use escalated: According to Minnelli’s memoir, cocaine use progressed from recreational to near-constant on set and off, involving both participants.
- Notable figures: The memoir references encounters with cultural figures such as designer Halston and dancer-actor Mikhail Baryshnikov amid the era’s party scene.
- Public moments: Minnelli and Scorsese attended the New York, New York premiere in June 1977 and later visited Studio 54, emblematic of the period’s nightlife culture.
- Professional consequences: Minnelli says she removed Scorsese from a potential Broadway collaboration on The Act, citing the need for a theatre director and the relationship’s strain on her judgment.
- Later estrangement: Minnelli reports that when she approached Scorsese at the 2014 Oscars he turned away, signaling unresolved feelings despite his later recovery.
- Contextual facts: Minnelli is an Academy Award–winning actress (Cabaret); Scorsese is a ten–time Academy Award nominee and won Best Director for The Departed.
Background
The mid-1970s New York arts scene blended film, theatre and a vibrant nightlife that included places like Studio 54 and a cohort of designers, dancers and actors. Hollywood and Broadway crossovers were common: filmmakers sought stage talent and vice versa, creating frequent social and professional overlap. Drug use, particularly stimulants and sedatives, was widespread in many creative circles then, shaping both private lives and on-set dynamics.
By 1977 Martin Scorsese was an increasingly prominent director coming off projects such as Taxi Driver (1976), while Liza Minnelli had major stage and screen credentials following her Academy Award for Cabaret (1973). New York, New York, a musical starring Minnelli and Robert De Niro, proved commercially and critically challenging, intensifying stress around its production. That environment—ambition, artistic temperaments and a permissive party culture—formed the backdrop to the relationship described in Minnelli’s memoir.
Main Event
Minnelli writes that the relationship with Scorsese began while they were filming New York, New York and grew intense quickly. She recounts that both began using cocaine more heavily during production, moving beyond sporadic use to a pattern she describes as day-and-night consumption on set and during evenings out. The memoir frames substance use as intertwined with their intimacy and creative rationalizations.
The book includes episodes that illustrate volatility: Minnelli recalls Scorsese confronting her in public about an alleged affair with Mikhail Baryshnikov while she was with her then-husband, Jack Haley Jr. She characterizes both of their tempers as volcanic and suggests emotional turbulence accompanied the drug use. The memoir also recounts a social visit to designer Halston, during which Minnelli says various drugs were supplied to them.
Minnelli asked Scorsese to direct her in a stage project, The Act, but ultimately removed him from the job, saying the production required a theatre director. She describes carrying the responsibility for that decision and the emotional cost it exacted. Years later she attempted a reconciliatory greeting at the 2014 Oscars, which she says Scorsese rebuffed by turning away; the memoir notes lingering hurt despite Scorsese’s later progress addressing addiction.
Analysis & Implications
Memoirs like Minnelli’s reframe public figures’ private histories and invite reassessment of moments long considered part of pop-culture lore. Her account underscores how intimate relationships and substance use can become mutually reinforcing, altering creative collaborations and personal trajectories. For readers and historians, the memoir offers first-person texture to an era often depicted in caricature—bridging anecdotes about high-profile personalities with the real costs of addiction.
The disclosures may affect reputations differently: Minnelli’s narrative centers on candid self-reflection and the emotional toll of those years, while Scorsese’s historical standing rests on a long filmography and later public acknowledgement of personal struggles. Public reaction will likely balance interest in behind-the-scenes drama with sensitivity to addiction as a medical and social issue rather than purely scandalous fodder.
On an industry level, the memoir contributes to ongoing conversations about workplace conduct, the blurred lines between professional and private relationships, and how studios and collaborators managed (or failed to manage) substance use at the time. It also exemplifies how later admissions and retrospection can prompt renewed scrutiny of creative work produced under compromised conditions.
Comparison & Data
| Year | Item | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 1977 | New York, New York (film) | Commercial/critical disappointment at release; later noted for its cultural context |
| 1973 | Liza Minnelli — Cabaret | Academy Award for Best Actress |
| 2007–2014 (cumulative) | Martin Scorsese — Academy Awards | Ten nominations overall; won Best Director for The Departed (2007) |
The table highlights that the affair and drug use took place amid high-profile projects and achievements: Minnelli’s major early-career triumphs, and Scorsese’s ascent to a leading film auteur. While New York, New York did not match prior successes commercially, both figures continued to shape film and theatre in subsequent decades. The memoir invites readers to weigh artistic output against the personal circumstances under which it was produced.
Reactions & Quotes
Below are representative reactions drawn from the memoir and media coverage, with context provided for each.
Minnelli describes the relationship as emotionally explosive and says their drug use quickly moved from occasional to almost constant during filming and social outings.
Liza Minnelli — Kids, Wait Till You Hear This! (memoir)
Entertainment coverage framed the account within broader reporting on 1970s celebrity culture, noting Minnelli’s references to figures such as Halston and Baryshnikov and the era’s permissive nightlife.
Entertainment Weekly / Page Six (entertainment reporting)
Mental-health advocates emphasize that personal accounts of addiction can reduce stigma and encourage people to seek help, while also reminding readers that memoirs reflect one individual’s perspective.
Mental-health advocacy perspective (public health commentary)
Unconfirmed
- The precise start and end months of the Minnelli–Scorsese relationship are not specified in the memoir and remain unspecified in public reports.
- There is no public record in the memoir that the affair directly caused any specific professional contract terminations beyond Minnelli’s decision on The Act; causal links are reported from her perspective.
- At the time of reporting, a statement from Martin Scorsese or his representative responding directly to the memoir’s claims was not available.
Bottom Line
Liza Minnelli’s memoir adds a candid, personal account of a mid-1970s relationship with Martin Scorsese that she connects to escalating cocaine use during the production of New York, New York (1977). The recollections illuminate how creativity, intimacy and substance use intersected in a high-pressure cultural moment and how those intersections affected careers and personal lives.
Readers should treat the memoir as Minnelli’s first-person account—valuable for its perspective but partial by nature. The disclosures are likely to renew conversation about addiction’s role in entertainment history, encourage empathy for recovery, and prompt closer questions about how creative industries have managed personal vulnerabilities across eras.
Sources
- HuffPost — news report summarizing Minnelli’s memoir (media)
- Page Six — entertainment reporting cited in coverage (media)
- Entertainment Weekly — entertainment reporting referenced in coverage (media)
- The Guardian — international news coverage referenced in reporting (media)
- SAMHSA National Helpline — U.S. federal resource for substance use support (official public health)