Liza to divorce but denies abuse

The couple married in March 2002

Liza Minnelli has filed for divorce from her fourth husband, David Gest, after he accused her of beating him.

The actress dismissed Gest's claims that she attacked him in drunken rages as "hurtful and without merit".

She filed divorce papers on Wednesday - one day after Gest began legal action seeking $10m (£5.9m) in damages for spousal abuse.

Gest's lawyer Raoul Felder said: "Obviously these people should be divorced. This marriage is dead."

"I had already said that within three or four days she would file [for divorce] or we would file," he said.

I will continue to focus on my work, my sobriety and my fans who have been so wonderful to me Liza Minnelli

Cabaret star Minnelli, 57, released a statement on Wednesday saying she had hoped the end of her marriage "would be handled with mutual respect and dignity".

"My lawyers will respond to the lawsuit in the proper forum," she said.

"I will continue to focus on my work, my sobriety and my fans who have been so wonderful to me."

Gest, 50, a producer, separated from Minnelli three months ago and has now said she threw a lamp at him and beat his face with her fists.

In an 11-page civil suit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court on Tuesday, he said an attack by Minnelli left him with an "unrelenting pain in his head".

She started beating me with her hands about the head until I ran into the other room David Gest's lawsuit

Gest also said he once caught his wife drinking a bottle of vodka and that caused her to "fly into a rage".

"She started beating me with her hands about the head until I ran into the other room," Gest says.

He said he was so concerned he called an organisation providing treatment for people affected by alcoholism and drug addiction.

On learning she was about to be admitted for treatment, Gest said Minnelli again flew into a "violent rage, beating the plaintiff with her hands while shouting insults at him".

Gest said that following one attack he sustained severe injuries about the head and "virtually constant unrelenting pain in his head".

He added he suffers from "throbbing pain, severe headaches, vertigo, nausea, hypertension, scalp tenderness and insomnia".

The couple were married in March 2002 and split 16 months later in July this year.