Bette Midler Calls Out Lady Gaga For Wheelchair Mermaid Performance

Lady Gaga's fashion is meant to shock audiences, but one recent getup drew criticism from unexpected places - groups with disabilities, and Bette Midler.

Some handicapped citizens were far from thrilled with a wheelchair-bound mermaid character that Gaga unveiled at last week's monster concert in Sydney.

Also not pleased? Midler, who performed in an almost identical getup three decades ago, while playing her alter-ego character named Delores DeLago.

Midler fired off a series of critical tweets to Gaga, saying, "I've been doing the mermaid in a wheelchair since 1980. You can keep the meat dress."

Gaga, who was born (this way) in 1986, claims she had no idea.

"I had no idea she did that and I'm a huge Bette Midler fan," she explained to Access Hollywood. "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."

Fair point. Mermaids flopping around on land have it rough.

This was apparently enough for Bette, who later Tweeted, "Let's drink this over at the Emmys in September. Fabulous mermaids can coexist!"

Amen.

In other half-woman, half-fish news, Gaga fans were similarly peeved over Katy Perry's planking pic, which they felt was a Mother Monster ripoff.