NEWSCher Contemplated Suicide '5 or 6 Times' Due to Ex Sonny Bono's Controlling Behavior: 'I Was Dizzy With Loneliness'
The first part of Cher's memoir released on Tuesday, November 19.
Cher's relationship with ex-husband Sonny Bono was more toxic than anyone ever knew.
In Cher: The Memoir, Part One, the mom-of-two shockingly revealed that at the height of the couple's The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour — which aired in the early '70s — she contemplated taking her own life due to Bono's controlling behavior.
The actress, 78, revealed that Bono — whom she was married to from 1964 to 1975 — was so jealous that he prohibited her from going to certain parties and wouldn't let Cher have her own bank account.
Things hit a peak in 1972 when they were vacationing in Europe, as the "Believe" vocalist recalled sitting in a hotel feeling "dizzy with loneliness."
"I saw how easy it would be to step over the edge and simply disappear," she confessed, noting that at one point, she was "barefoot on the balcony of our suite and stared down …"
The duo was married from 1964 to 1975 and welcomed one child together.
"For a few crazy minutes I couldn’t imagine any other option," the superstar admitted. "I did this five or six times, and each time I’d think about [their child] Chas, about my mother, about my sister, about everybody and how things like this could make people who look up to me feel that it’s a viable situation and I would step back inside."
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Fortunately, the Goddess of Pop realized she was capable of forging a path on her own. To keep up with appearances, the duo continued to perform together, but on the weekends, she lived on her own at their Malibu beach house, where she got by on a $5,000 monthly stipend.
She filed for divorce in 1975, but not before she sought out advice from Lucille Ball, who also worked with her husband and experienced martial strife.
Cher confessed she contemplated suicide during their relationship.
"I told her, ‘Lucy, I want to leave Sonny and you’re the only one I know that’s ever been in this same situation. What should I do?’ Lucy and her husband had also become famous working together as stars on TV," Cher wrote in her book, which hit shelves on Tuesday, November 19. "And he was a huge womanizer too. Then Lucy had left him. She told me, ‘F--- him, you’re the one with the talent.’"
The mother-of-two sought out divorce advice from Lucille Ball.
The same year she divorced Sonny — who died in a skiing accident in 1998 — she wed Greg Allman.
The pair welcomed one son together but split in 1979.
Cher has been dating music producer Alexander "A.E." Edwards, 38, since late 2022.
Page Six reported on the contents of Cher's memoir.
