According to Cher, her ex-husband Sonny Bono deprived her of her income. The singer made the accusations in an interview with the New York Times while promoting her new book, Cher: The Memoir.
“He took all my money. I said to myself, “We are husband and wife. Half of the things are his, the other half are mine. “It didn’t occur to me that there was another way,” confided the singer, now 78 years old. Sonny Bono had in fact founded the company Cher Enterprises, of which he owned 95%, leaving the remaining 5% to his lawyer.
Cher adds, “To this day, I wish I could ask him, ‘Man, at what point on what day did you say to yourself, ‘Yeah, you know what? I’m going to take his money?
The couple met in 1961, when Cher was 16 and Sonny Bono was 27. She first became his governess before their relationship became romantic. Married in 1964, they separated in 1972 before divorcing in June 1975 after a heated legal battle. They had a son, Chaz.
During their union, they formed the duo Sonny & Cher, known for songs such as “Baby Don’t Go” and “I Got You Babe,” and hosted “The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour” and then “The Sonny & Dear Show”. Together, they have sold more than 40 million records and been nominated for two Grammy Awards.
In her book, Cher also discusses the changes brought about by fame in Sonny Bono, explaining that he often adopted an authoritarian attitude, imposing his will without compromise and frequently forbidding her from participating in social events.
“I woke up one morning – early, around 5 o’clock – and I said to myself, ‘I’m not going to do this anymore. I’m going to leave him.” “I started making a plan so risky that I don’t know where I found the courage to carry it through,” she revealed.
