Despite being celebrated as a celebrity power couple, Cher reveals that her marriage to Sonny Bono was far from happy. In the first installment of her memoir, Cher talks about the bad and ugly details of her marriage with Sonny Bono. She also sheds light on how Sonny cheated on her with his secretary while she was recovering from her third miscarriage.
Sonny Bono and Cher had a wide age gap in their relationship, which may have contributed to their marriage struggles as Cher described Sonny as controlling. The pair met at a Los Angeles coffee shop when Cher was 16, and Sonny was 27 and in the middle of a divorce. They lived as roommates for a while before they started to sing together and eventually produced their comedy show, The Sonny & Cher Show.
Cher caught Sonny Bono cheating on her with his secretary
They seemed like the perfect couple on stage, but Cher reveals that Sonny cheated on her constantly. She recounts a painful experience in her memoir, detailing the moment she caught Sonny Bono with another woman. At that time, her husband had just hired a new secretary to assist him with the Chastity script. The singer explains that she woke one evening to get water and noticed two figures in the den which she dismissed. Later, she heard whispers and rustling, which aroused her curiosity. Upon investigating, Cher saw Sonny escorting his young, blond assistant out the front door. The 78-year-old describes the scene as “a f—–g cliché” that broke her heart. She gave Sonny no opportunity to explain, instead retreating to bed before packing her belongings and leaving for her mother’s house.
Despite his attempts to win her back, Sonny blamed Cher for his infidelity. He said that if she was satisfying, him, he wouldn’t have had to cheat. Cher admits in the memoir that she started to think it was truly her fault, and at the end of the argument, she apologized to him. She later found out through mutual friends that Sonny was a serial cheater, and he had cheated on her with dancers, waitresses, actresses, and hookers.
Sonny Bono was “controlling,” “possessive,” and “Machiavellian.”
Apart from being a cheater, the actress also describes Sonny Bono as “controlling,” “possessive,” and “Machiavellian,” stating that he banned her from visiting friends, dancing, or even wearing perfume. Before they finally separated, Cher admits that she considered suicide multiple times.
Cher and Sonny Bono’s marriage ended in 1975, when their divorce was finalized. Interestingly, during the proceedings in 1974, Sonny filed for separation while Cher cited “involuntary servitude” as the reason for their split. Following the divorce, Cher went on to marry Gregg Allman in 1975, while Sonny Bono pursued a career in politics, becoming a Republican congressman. He passed away in a skiing accident in 1998.