Cher's Relationship With Alexander 'AE' Edwards, 37, Threw Troubled Son Elijah Blue Allman 'off the Deep End': Report

Cher's troubled son Elijah Blue Allman plunged into a deep depression allegedly because the diva's fling with boytoy Alexander "AE" Edwards kept her from doting on the needy addict, contributing to his tragic downward spiral, RadarOnline.com has learned.

"Once Cher started dating AE, she had far less time for anyone else in her life," an insider snitched to The National Enquirer. "Elijah suffered perhaps the most as he's extremely codependent on his mom and found it very hard when she stopped taking calls and went from talking every day without fail to once or twice a week at best."

Sources alleged that the If I Could Turn Back Time singer recently staged an intervention after learning Elijah — who has a history of drug use — had passed out in front of Hollywood's notorious Chateau Marmont hotel, where he'd been holed up for months, and rushed him into yet another rehab stint.

The insider told the outlet that as the smitten songbird, 77, had first fallen under the sway of the 37-year-old producer AE late last year, she heeded her man's advice to force Elijah, 47, to "stand on his own two feet and stop mooching off her."

But moles dished the Moonstruck Oscar winner's youngest son — who was fathered by Cher's late rocker husband Gregg Allman — came apart at the seams as his mom pulled away and his nine-year marriage to wife Marieangela King crumbled.

British vocalist King, 36, has claimed in court documents that her meddling mother-in-law hired four henchmen last fall to kidnap Elijah from a New York City hotel — where the estranged couple had been staying while trying to rekindle their romance — and hustle him into rehab.

Cher denied the kidnapping allegations, telling PEOPLE, "That rumor is not true."

However, sources alleged to The National Enquirer that "Cher didn't like Elijah's wife and thought she was a bad influence. Word is she encouraged him to leave her. She kept a finger on Elijah's pulse, so to speak, but then she stopped holding his hand once AE came into her life."

An insider confided Cher's relationship with her kids, Elijah and Chaz Bono — her 54-year-old son with first husband Sonny Bono — soured because they feared AE was manipulating their mom and had designs on her $380 million fortune.

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