Buyers of Liza Minnelli’s memoir say it was not signed by hand | Liza Minnelli

Liza Minnelli fans who bought signed copies of her memoir are seeking refunds because they believe her signature is a forgery.

Copies of Kids, Wait Until You Hear This! and the 80-year-old American singer have been sold around the world as “hand-signed collectibles”, reproductions valued at up to $250 (£185).

However, some consumers doubt the similarity of the signature and think that it is digitally signed. autopena device that imitates handwriting.

“If you see pictures of Liza today in her archives, she is too weak to sign a few books correctly, let alone hundreds,” said autograph collector Gareth Brown, who contacted the Guardian after paying £25 for a signed copy in a shop in Kent.

He said he bought the hardback instead of waiting for a cheap paperback because of the signature.

“I began to wonder how many books he must have signed for someone to find in an independent shop on the English coast,” he said. “I found that there is a lot of discussion on the Internet about this and a lot of pictures of the signature, they all look the same.”

Fans, who have paperbacks, have gone wild and thought that the signatures in their books are the same.

According to Justin Steffman, CEO of autograph authentication service AutographCOA, none of the samples he examined appeared to be signed by a human hand.

He said: “It’s sad that many famous people sell products with fake autographs. So the revelation that Liza Minnelli’s memoir contains what appear to be autographs signed with an autopen was no surprise.”

Fans who put it online say they want their copies back.

Minnelli is a singer, dancer and actress and the daughter of the late Hollywood star Judy Garland. He made his first screenplay as a child. Earlier this year he release his first new song in 13 years, adding lyrics to an AI-generated dance track.

Minelli’s agent and US and UK publishers Grand Central Publishing and Hodder did not respond to The Guardian’s request for comment. Grand Central Publishing previously told entertainment website Radar Online that all copies of the memoir were signed by the author.

The autograph market is estimated to be worth more than $25bn worldwide, but collectors are being warned to beware of fakes. In 2022, Bob Dylan was forced to apologize after copies of his autographed book sold for $599 were found to have been signed with an autopen.

Last year, Sinéad O’Connor agreed to use a stamp to sign 10,000 copies of her memoir, Rememberings.

“Hundreds of entertainers and celebrities have used autopen machines (and agents) to sign their products in the past and unfortunately will continue to do so,” Steffman said.

Brown said he wrote to Hodder to ask if the signature was digital but he did not respond.

“I feel cheated,” he said. “What I love most about autographs is that they capture the moment of someone I admire, and they stay there for a minute or two.