Dueling Divas Bette, Cher

06/01/1999 at 12:00 AM EDT

Outspoken as ever, Bette Midler took a couple of swipes at Cher, her costar at a weekend benefit concert in New York, reports New York's Daily News. Reportedly upset that Cher, who went on stage first, was a half-hour late (because, the News says, she was having her face retooled by a makeup artist), Midler poked fun at Cher's lip-synching her three songs, and welcomed photographers to take her picture -- in direct contrast to Cher's directive that there be no cameras during her own performance. "I'm a star," witnesses quoted Bette as saying. "I'm not someone who used to be famous and is trying to become famous again." Midler reps deny she made that crack.