An angry Liza Minnelli has stripped off the gloves in her smackdown battle with estranged husband David Gest.

In a $3 million Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit, Minnelli portrays Gest as a thief and prima donna, who believed he was the bigger star. “His conduct became so offensive that people in the entertainment industry began refusing to work with Minnelli,” the lawsuit claims.

She also charges that he was a bad husband in their 16 months of a bizarre marriage, even by showbiz standards. “Gest constantly berated Minnelli in public and began holding himself out as the ‘star,'” the lawsuit contends.

The accusations follow the $10million lawsuit Gest filed last month accusing Minnelli of being a vodka-guzzling drunk who beat him regularly. The Oscar-winning diva filed for divorce a day after Gest sued her.

In her latest legal papers, Minnelli, 57, claims she trusted 50-year-old Gest – but says she found out he was a swindler who charged her for bogus expenses.

Gest countered yesterday that he lost a fortune promoting her concerts. “He says she owes him hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said Gest’s lawyer, Raoul Felder. “He believes she lost her memory.”