'Cher Hated Sonny': Her Longtime Manager Reveals What She Really Thought About Her Husband
Cher and Sonny Bono had a toxic marriage before their split in 1975.
Nov. 26 2024, Published 4:25 p.m. ET
Cher may have been married to her husband, Sonny Bono, for over 10 years, but the iconic hitmaker despised her partner..
RadarOnline.com can reveal Cher actually hated Bono according to her longtime manager, Billy Sammeth.
Cher knew there was something 'special' about the late songwriter and commented on his unique style choices.
Sammeth shared: "You know how you can tell Cher is a great actress and deserved the Academy Award for Moonstruck? Because of her eulogy at Sonny’s funeral. This was someone she hated.
"Cher gave a brilliant performance when she delivered that eulogy because I know how she really felt."
However, despite how Cher may have felt about her now-late husband, she was also left with regrets following his passing in 1998.
Despite the 'hate', Cher had plenty of regrets following Bono's death in 1998.
Sammeth, who worked with the Believe singer for two decades before he was fired in 1999, told Daily Beast in 2012: "I’ll tell you what I do think she cried about. She cried that she never settled her differences with Sonny, that they never had that resolution. That would be upsetting to her.
“But that he died? Please. She thought he was nothing but a used-car salesman.”
Sammeth died in 2018 following a battle with pancreatic cancer.
The singer said it wasn't 'love at first sight' when she first met Sonny as he was more interested in her friend Melissa.
In Cher's just-released memoir, Cher: The Memoir - Part One, the entertainer admitted having suicidal thoughts while married to Bono.
She writes in her book: “I stepped barefoot onto the balcony of our suite and stared down. I was dizzy with loneliness. I saw how easy it would be to step over the edge and simply disappear. For a few crazy minutes I couldn’t imagine any other option.”
The 78-year-old admits she reached this point “five or six times”, but each time, she would think about her child, which helped pull her away from the suicidal thoughts.
This is not the first time Cher has opened up about her rocky marriage to Bono, even admitting he was not faithful.
In 2010 she told Parade magazine: "Stardom made Sonny a huge womanizer. One woman, or even five, was not enough for him. I found all this out afterward. I asked him: ‘How did you manage the logistics?’ I was trusting and faithful with him.
"The truth is, I’m not so sure we should’ve ever been husband and wife.”
However, Bono wasn't the only one stepping out of the marriage.
The iconic singer admits to having suicidal thoughts while married to Bono.
In her memoir, Cher touches on her own affair that she had while married to Bono, revealing she wanted to sleep with a younger guitarist named Bill.
Bill, who in her memoir Cher describes as a "tall 21-year-old with a Texas drawl", made the first move according to the actress.
She writes: "It felt like my head almost exploded off my shoulders. Bill was a great kisser..."
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After splitting from Bono in 1975, Cher also revealed how she helped fellow singer Tina Turner leave her abusive marriage to Ike Turner. Turner had revealed a bruise to Cher before an appearance on her eponymous TV variety show.
Cher writes in her memoir: "Before we went on [Turner] came to my room asking if I had some cover-up. She had a bruise on her arm she didn't want [it] showing on camera. She sat down while I looked for it and then quietly said, very straightforward, 'Tell me how you left him."
Turner split from her husband in 1976
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