Gest 'banned' Liza talking to her own sister

David Gest banned his estranged wife Liza Minnelli from talking to her own sister for two years, it was claimed today.

Minnelli and her sister Lorna Luft launched a blistering attack on Gest, who is currently suing the star, claiming she beat him during their marriage.

Luft said: “He would not allow my sister to get in touch with me. He would not allow her to contact me in any way, shape or form.”

She accused Gest of having “INA”, or “I need attention” disorder.

“Oh, honey, his 15 minutes are up … He only had 13 to begin with,” she said.

She pulled no punches when asked what she would say to Gest if she could have a face-to-face meeting.

“I’d have to say that the 15 minutes are up and walk out, because no one wants to talk to you anymore. Gotta go, bye. That’s all you can say.”

She said he had “stepped over the line” with “false allegations” about her sister.

Gest has filed for divorce and is suing Minnelli, claiming she left him with lasting injuries during their marriage.

He claims he has to have 80 painkilling injections every four to six weeks, and will have to undergo plastic surgery for permanent injuries Minnelli caused him.

He said recently: “Liza Minnelli can be very, very violent – anybody else would be doing jail time for what she’s done.”

She denies beating Gest and has launched a counter-suit.

In the interview, Minnelli also talks of her alcoholism and suggests the illness was passed down from her mother, Judy Garland.

“It wasn’t her fault. It’s like being angry for someone giving you any other disease that you inherit. How could it be their fault?” she said.

“The problem was that she and her generation didn’t really get that it was a disease.”

The interview was conducted by journalist Daphne Barak, who recently interviewed Michael Jackson’s three nephews.

Excerpts were released to the New York Post.