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Bette Midler: Lady Gaga Copied Mermaid in Wheelchair Outfit

Lady Gaga
Performer Lady Gaga waves as she walks across the tarmac upon arrival by her private jet at Sydney airport in Sydney, Australia, Saturday, July 9, 2011. Lady Gaga is in Sydney for a one-off show at Sydney’s Town Hall. (AP Photo/Dean Lewins, Pool)
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Performer Lady Gaga waves as she walks across the tarmac upon arrival by her private jet at Sydney airport in Sydney, Australia, Saturday, July 9, 2011. Lady Gaga is in Sydney for a one-off show at Sydney's Town Hall. (AP Photo/Dean Lewins, Pool)

Lady Gaga’s performance in Australia featured the artist in a mermaid outfit, sitting in a wheelchair.

Hmm…who has had a similar act?

None other than Bette Midler. According to Entertainment Weekly,  Midler played the role of Delores DeLago, who dressed as a mermaid, and sat in a wheelchair while singing “New York, New York,” in the 1980s.

How did Midler feel when it looked like she had been copied by one of the world’s biggest sensations? She took her frustration to Twitter, tweeting, “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.” She then followed up with her second post: “Dear @Lady Gaga I’ve been doing singing mermaid in a wheelchair since 1980- You can keep the meat dress and the firecracker tits, mermaid’s mine.”

The Toronto Sun reported that Gaga has been consistent with her response to Midler: she had “no idea” that she did a mermaid-wheelchair act decades earlier. She told Access Hollywood’s Billy Bush, “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…I admire her and find her to be one of the most brilliant and incredible performers, so that’s all I’ll say.”

The two mermaids didn’t spend much time feuding. Midler later tweeted, “Let’s drink this over at the Emmys in September. Fabulous mermaids can coexist!”

A case of great minds thinking alike in Hollywood? Seems impractical, but these notorious ladies think so!