Cher claims she found out Sonny Bono was cheating on her after suffering third miscarriage: 'It broke my heart'
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Cher alleged that her ex-husband, Sonny Bono, cheated on her with his secretary around the time that she suffered a miscarriage in her new memoir.
While reflecting on her 11-year marriage to Bono, the superstar, 78, claimed she learned that he was unfaithful to her after she experienced her third pregnancy lost.
In Cher: The Memoir, Part One, the Believe hitmaker wrote that, sometime around 1967, as her and Bono's careers struggled to stay afloat, he 'hired a secretary to take dictation' of the film he was writing called Chastity.
The Grammy winner recalled her then-husband's secretary as 'young and blond.'
One night, after heading downstairs to get water, Cher revealed she saw 'two figures' in the den.
Although she initially thought nothing of it, after hearing 'rustling and whispering' in the room, the mom-of-two began to suspect 'something was wrong' and saw 'Sonny helping his new assistant out the front door.'
Cher alleged that her ex-husband, Sonny Bono, cheated on her with his secretary around the time that she suffered a miscarriage in her new memoir; seen this month
'It was such a f**king cliché. It broke my heart, but you’ve got to give him an A for effort,' Cher wrote.
The performer said when Sonny tried to talk to her about what she saw, Cher refused to discuss the matter.
Instead of trying to talk things through, Cher recalled packing up her belongings and taking them to her mom's house.
Despite yearning for comfort from her mom, Cher said her mother admitted to hearing 'similar stories about Bono for a while,' according to People.
The singer said his infidelity 'overloaded' her with sadness and she never forgave him for it.
At the time, she was 21, and had already experienced three miscarriages.
Previously, she recalled suffering her first at age 18.
She noted that Bono repeatedly tried to make amends with her by using his 'charm and persuasiveness' to get her back.
When that didn't work, he blamed her for not having sex with him often enough.
Cher alleged Bono told her: 'I wouldn’t have had to look outside our marriage if I was sexually satisfied.'
While reflecting on her 11-year marriage to Bono, the superstar, 78, claimed she learned that he was unfaith to her around the same time she experienced her third pregnancy lost (pictured in 1966)
'That was such bulls**t, but by the time he’d finished I found myself apologizing,' the star, who was 11 years Bono's junior, admitted.
In her memoir, Cher detailed how controlling her ex-husband was during their marriage.
She claimed that Bono took his manipulation so far that she was banned from seeing her friends, could only leave the house to go shopping and couldn't even wear perfume because the singer-turned-politician didn't like the smell.
'There was something inside him that I could never understand, something that took him from being this fabulous funny guy to being someone who would take everything from me,' Cher reflected in her book.
'For years, I've racked my brain for how he could have done what he did, and I still can't get over it to this day.'
In Cher: The Memoir, Part One, the Believe hitmaker wrote that, sometime around 1967, as her and Bono's careers struggled to stay afloat, he 'hired a secretary to take dictation' of the film he was writing called Chastity; seen in 1977
The first installment of the memoir by 78-year-old Cher, born Cheryl Sarkisian, is dominated with details on her relationship with Bono.
The pair met in 1962 in a coffee shop in Los Angeles, when she was introduced to one 'Salvatore Philip Bono.'
Cher writes that he was 'one of the most interesting men I'd ever seen' and that she admired his 'beautiful hands with long, tapered fingers'
They hung out and became friends and when Cher told him she had been asked to move out of her apartment, Bono said she could move in with him if she cooked and cleaned the place.
'Don't worry, I've got twin beds,' he told her. 'And honestly, I don't find you particularly attractive.'
Cher described how she was both 'insulted and relieved' to hear that.
The 11-year-age difference - she was just 16 and he was 27 - didn't matter. Nor did the fact that Bono was in the process of divorcing his first wife, as Cher thought he was the 'coolest person I'd ever met.'
The singer said his infidelity 'overloaded' her with sadness and she never forgave him for it; seen in 1966
At that time, Cher was doing acting lessons but soon stopped to spend her days hanging out at the famed Gold Star Studios, where Bono worked as an assistant to the legendary producer Phil Spector.
According to Cher, their relationship was like 'father and daughter' and soon she realized that she was in love with him.
But even at these early stages, Bono was also controlling: Cher says he was 'possessive' and said that they never went out dancing, even though he knew she loved it.
Bono was 'already starting to take over my life, even if I didn't notice,' she claims. And soon Bono 'hated my being involved in anything he wasn't part of.'
Just like dancing, he made her quit other hobbies and passions such as playing softball with her family and her friends which left her 'devastated'. Her older lover's explanation for this was that she 'didn't have time to mess around with games'.
Her book Cher: The Memoir, Part One was released on November 19, 2024 and opens by detailing her messy relationship with Bono and his 'Machiavellian' behaviors
Then it began to cross the line towards physical when Bono pushed her up against the wall with his shoulders and face clenched.
Cher told him that if he ever touched her like that again she would 'leave your a**,' in what turned out to be an empty threat.
They became intertwined emotionally, financially and creatively. Their singing duo had a big break in 1964 with the song 'Baby Don't Go', followed by 'I Got You Babe' which turned the act Sonny & Cher into America's sweethearts.
Soon, they were invited to go on tour with the Beach Boys and flew to London where they gathered even more public adoration after they were denied entry to the Hilton because of the way they dressed.
Once they hit the big time, Bono 'worked us constantly,' adding more gigs onto their already overloaded schedule, Cher writes.
They never took a vacation unless it was a day or two after a gig and they never went out to dinner. The vice grip Bono had on her autonomy grew when Cher was banned from wearing perfume because the older man didn't like the smell and would only let her out the house to go shopping.
The pair met in 1962 in a coffee shop in Los Angeles, when she was introduced to one 'Salvatore Philip Bono' (seen in 1970)
Cher writes that he was 'one of the most interesting men I'd ever seen' and that she admired his 'beautiful hands with long, tapered fingers' (seen in 1977)
The tension around Bono's infidelity escalated after the pair went to see the movie The Dirty Dozen, and Bono turned on Cher because she said she liked it.
'Do you know why you like it so much? Because you're sexually frustrated,' he told her.
When Cher became angry and frightened, Bono ordered her to pull their car over, got out and slammed the door. Cher spared no second to drive off and when Bono returned home, he blamed her for leaving him by the side of the road.
It was the first of many instances where he would use his words and their deteriorating situation to knock her 'off balance' when she least expected it.
Cher recalls the feeling of having to stop herself from going 'insane' at home and how she began to take tennis lessons to find joy outside of her situation.
Bono set her up with a female coach but one day after the lesson, the coach was hosting a party and Cher briefly said hello to some of the guests - this short interaction was reported back to Bono by Cher's driver.
Cher writes: 'Later that night I looked out of my bedroom and spotted flames. Peering closer I could see that Sonny was stoking the incinerator in the backyard.
'When I realized he was burning my tennis clothes I felt such a rush of anger and complete hopelessness. I couldn't believe he was being so controlling. I felt utterly betrayed.'
Cher's first child, a girl called Chastity who later underwent gender reassignment in 2009 and became Chaz, was born in 1969.
They hung out and became friends and when Cher told him she had been asked to move out of her apartment, Bono said she could move in with him if she cooked and cleaned the place
The 11-year-age difference - she was just 16 and he was 27 - didn't matter. Nor did the fact that Bono was in the process of divorcing his first wife, as Cher thought he was the 'coolest person I'd ever met' (seen in 1973)
But bringing a child into the world didn't end the horror of the pair's decaying relationship. On the first night she came back from the hospital, Bono went out, leaving Cher to pass out on the bathroom floor when she suffered a hemorrhage.
Cher reflected in her book: 'Looking back, I wonder where the hell Sonny went the first night I came home with our baby, but at the time I was too tired and weak to even think.'
At this point, the public had no idea of their relationship's increasing tension and the Sonny & Cher brand was stronger than ever thanks to their hit CBS TV shows like The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour.
But at home, Bono was 'disconnecting' from Cher and their situation was 'falling apart'.
'I was able to live with him because I compartmentalized my feelings and was used to censoring what I said and did around him…
'....since we'd been together I knew the rules and how I should behave so as not to cause any problems.
'We'd been partners. Family. But he didn't seem to care how I felt anymore, or that I even had emotions.'
The reality of Cher's situation began to set in and the pop icon concluded that, at 26 years old, she was in a 'loveless marriage'.
During their marriage, the couple welcomed their first child, Chastity, who later underwent gender reassignment in 2009 and became Chaz; seen in 1973
She played Bono's games against him and rebelled by having an affair with their band's young guitar player, Bill. But in one of the most bizarre passages of the book, Cher admits she blurted out her intentions to sleep with Bill to Bono's face.
Incredibly, he replied: 'How long do you think you'll need?'
When she told him she needed two hours, he said 'ok' and walked off.
That night while Cher was half asleep, Bono walked round to her side of the bed and pulled her wedding ring off, later screaming at her: 'America will hate you for breaking us up!'
Ironically, Cher later found out that Bono had slept with Bill's girlfriend as an act of revenge. And amid the breakup drama, one of her mutual friends with Bono admitted that during their marriage Bono had been having sex with dancers, actresses, waitresses and even prostitutes while they were on the road.
He would get an extra room he could enter through a side door in the suite he shared with Cher, the friend said.
Some of the women he slept with even contacted Cher and said he had told them they were in an open marriage.
