Lady GaGa "had no idea" Bette Midler performed wheelchair routine

Lady GaGa has said that she did not intend to copy Bette Midler's wheelchair routine.

Midler has claimed that Lady GaGa copied one of her signature stage routines by performing in a wheelchair.

GaGa sparked outrage when she took to the stage in a mermaid tail and wheelchair to perform 'You and I' during a secret show in Sydney, Australia last week.

GaGa responded to Midler's accusations, telling Access Hollywood that she never meant to copy the Hocus Pocus star's routine.

"I had no idea that she did that and I'm a huge Bette Midler fan," GaGa said.

The singer went on to say that she now intends the performance to be a tribute to Midler.

"Not in the beginning it wasn't 'cause I didn't know that she'd done [it], but I do now and I think it's great," GaGa said when asked if her routine was meant as an homage to Midler. "Obviously I feel connected to women in theater and women from the past.

"Maybe we're just cut from the same cloth," GaGa concluded. "I couldn't hop around in that tail so I just stuck myself in a wheelchair."

GaGa's website was recently hacked, leading to thousands of fans' details being stolen.

Watch a report of Lady GaGa's secret show in Sydney - including footage of the wheelchair routine - below: