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Singing sensation Cher will be forced to pay the $1 million in legal fees that she incurred during a bitter legal battle against ex-husband Sonny Bono's widow, Mary Bono, a judge has ruled.
The 80-year-old pop icon, whose real name is Cheryl Sarkisian, launched a lawsuit against former California Rep. Bono in 2021, alleging that royalties from the songs that she and her ex-spouse had recorded together during their marriage were being withheld form her.
She sought $1 million in damages from Bono, accusing her of trying to use "wholly inapplicable statutory termination provision of the Copyright Act of 1976" in order to terminate Cher's rights to hits like "I Got You Babe" and "The Beat Goes On."
In May 2024, a judge ruled that Cher was owed more than $418,000 in unpaid royalties, according to People magazine—however that did not bring an end to the legal dispute. In January of this year, the songstress filed a request asking that Bono be made to pay the $1,023,605.30 in legal fees that she had incurred during the battle.
Now, that request has been denied, meaning that Cher will be forced to cover those costs herself.
Cher and Sonny, who died in a skiing accident in 1998, were together for more than a decade, tying the knot in an unofficial ceremony in 1964, when she was just 17, before legally wedding in 1969. During that time, they performed together as a wildly successful musical duo under the name Sonny & Cher.
They also welcomed a child together, Chaz Bono, who was born Chastity Sun, before their divorce in 1975.
The judge's decision that Cher must pay her own legal fees in the battle against Bono marks the latest twist in what has been a tumultuous financial journey for the singer throughout her career—one that she has discussed in candid detail over the years.
In a 2010 interview with Vanity Fair, the "Believe" singer admitted that, when her marriage to Sonny ended, she was left with "no money and no way to live," explaining that, despite being surrounded by wealthy, successful friends—including Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty, and Goldie Hawn—she felt like she "couldn't do anything" to earn a living.
She later told "The Tonight Show" host Jimmy Fallon in 2016 that she and Sonny had experienced a significant downturn in their careers towards the end of their relationship, leaving them with a staggering amount of debt and unpaid taxes.
"In the beginning, what happened … Sonny and I, we were really famous, and then our career just went off a hill. We had no money, we had no job and we owed the government $278,000. … We were broke a-- broke."
While Cher did go on to find incredible success as a solo performer—as well as an actress and a model—that would not be the end of her financial difficulties, with the singer filing a lawsuit in 2016 against her financial managers, claiming that they had "defrauded" her out of $1.3 million between 2006 and 2007.
Today, it appears the singer is enjoying a much smoother ride, financially, with estimates placing her net worth at a staggering $360 million.
Inside Cher's property portfolio
Included in her impressive collection of assets is a staggering property portfolio, the crown jewel of which is the singer's longtime Malibu beach house, which was custom built for her in 1999 on a stunning parcel that she picked up for $2.95 million, following a lengthy search for the perfect location.
The seven-bedroom dwelling—which sits on nearly 2 acres of land just off the iconic Pacific Coast Highway—features an exotic European-inspired aesthetic, both inside and out.
Having worked with builder Wallace Tutt III on the creation of the 13,200-square-foot mansion, Cher then enlisted her close friend, designer Ron Wilson, to help her bring her vision for the Italian Renaissance-style abode to life, filling it with incredible pieces sourced from around the world—including tile from Morocco, art pieces from Asia, and marble imported from France.
In the years since the home was completed, Cher has carried out several updates to it, turning it into what she previously described to Architectural Digest as her personal "sanctuary."
However, in recent years, she has attempted to move on from her longtime "fortress," initially putting it on the market for $85 million in 2022, although that price was later lowered to $75 million in May 2023.
At the time, she told AD that, while the home had been "one of the greatest passions" of her life, she was ready to create a new sanctuary elsewhere—and allow someone else to experience the "magic" of her Malibu home.
"This house has been one of the greatest passions of my life," she said. "I have enjoyed every moment of its creation and evolution, but now it’s time to pass this magic on to others."
When the property was listed, images revealed an incredible glimpse inside the dwelling, which features a meditation room inside the primary suite, a climate-controlled wig room, a private gym, and a movie theater.
Outside, the parcel is lined with dozens of palm trees to ensure complete privacy, while a dramatic gated courtyard provides an idyllic place to relax away from prying eyes.
But perhaps the most impressive element of the home is its proximity to the ocean, which ensures jaw-dropping views from every room.
"Every room has two different views of the ocean," Cher revealed when she put the home on the market. "This house wraps its arms around. you."
Yet even with all of those amenities—and more—the property struggled on the market, despite the $10 million price cut.
Having failed to find a buyer, Cher ultimately delisted the property in August 2024—and records show that it is still registered to the trust she initially used to purchase it more than 30 years ago.
Cher's mountain retreat
The Malibu home is far from the only dwelling that Cher has owned over the years. Since the 1970s, the singer has picked up and sold multiple California homes, including properties in Bel Air and Beverly Hills—although her beach house has remained her primary residence.
In the 1970s and 1980s, however, she began to look further afield—specifically in Colorado and New York City.
Cher first purchased a property in Aspen, CO, in the 1970s, Architectural Digest previously reported—noting that she was forced to sell that home when she ran into financial difficulties.
However, by the 1980s, she was ready to return to the real estate market, purchasing an apartment in Manhattan's iconic Silk Building, before once again teaming up with Wilson on the decor. However, she owned it for just a few years before selling it to Russell Simmons for $1.6 million in 1990.
That same year, Cher happened upon what would end up becoming her longtime mountain retreat: an adobe-style Colorado home near Aspen, which she first visited while in the town for the wedding of her sister, Georganne. At the time, the singer decided to view several condos in the area—but it was the 8-acre estate that stole her heart.
"I kept going back to it," she told Architectural Digest in 1991. "It just seemed like the right place."
So much so, that Cher couldn't wait to make it her own—closing on the house in October, then rushing to redecorate and furnish it by early December so that she could spend the holidays there with her family, surrounded by snow-capped mountains.
"When she told me to do it by December, I said it couldn't be done," her longtime designer later said. "She said, ‘Well, kick some a-- and get it done.’"
Opening the home up to the design publication, Cher admitted that it was not the David Finholm-designed structure that had captured her attention when she first viewed the property, but rather the extraordinary location of the dwelling, which sits to the west of Aspen and boasts incredible panoramic mountain vistas.
"Every room in the house is like a picture with the windows like a big frame," she explained. "When you look out and see the snow falling or the leaves turning golden…it's just so beautiful."
It helped that the songstress had a number of friends who already owned properties in and around Aspen, and regularly spent time there, including the likes of Nicholson, Hawn, and Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith.
"There's something easy about it. I have a lot of friends up there," she said of the lifestyle in Aspen. "I'll go over to Kurt and Goldie's place or over to see Don and Melanie or Jack—these are people I've known my whole adult life. If you want activity you can find it, but if you don't, you don't have to—usually I don't."
