If anyone was worried Cher’s two-part memoir would be another empty celebrity vanity project, rest assured: The woman has lived.
More stories and interviews have emerged since Cher: The Memoir, Part 1 was released on Tuesday, bringing with it bombshell allegations that ex-husband Sonny Bono was controlling and stole her money.
The anecdotes reveal the independent streak that helped Cher, born Cherilyn Sarkisian, become one of the most iconic pop stars in the world.
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For example, one time when Cher was 15, she was driving on Sunset Boulevard when a convertible cut her off. She got out to confront the man and discovered it was Warren Beatty, 25 who was fresh off a starring turn opposite Natalie Wood in Splendor in the Grass, People magazine reported.
He was “so drop-dead gorgeous” she had to steady herself as he asked her name, Cher, now 78, wrote. By way of an apology, the actor bought the teen cigarettes and invited her back to his place in Beverly Hills for a tour and something to eat.
She almost said no because it would mean missing curfew—again—but finally agreed. After the tour, Beatty leaned in to kiss her and she reciprocated. Then she borrowed Natalie Wood’s bathing suit so they could go for a swim, not returning home until after 4 a.m.
The next day, when Beatty called to ask her to join him for dinner and another swim, she told him she was grounded. He asked to speak to her mother, who “melted” as soon as she heard his voice.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were with Warren Beatty?” her mother asked.
Years later, the two would become good friends when Cher eventually dated Beatty’s friend David Geffen.
In another story reported in People, the Burlesque star recalled the time she walked into a Rodeo Drive boutique shortly after her hit with Bono “I Got You Babe” took off. Eyeing an “amazing pantsuit with a psychedelic check pattern and a big red stripe down the front,” she asked the sales associate where it was from.
“It’s very expensive, miss,” the associate said and walked away.
Cher asked again who it was by, and once again the associate blew her off. At that point, Cher lost her patience. The pantsuit came in three colors; Cher said she would take one of each.
Other stories in her memoir were less triumphant, though.
During one section of the book, the Moonstruck actress recalls having suicidal ideations during the darkest moments of her marriage with Bono, Fox News reported.
She was 26 and stuck in a “loveless” marriage, and as she stood at the edge of their balcony, she imagined stepping over the edge—a thought that occurred to her half-a-dozen times.
Finally, she realized she didn’t need to jump; she could just leave him.
Arguably, though, she went from one controlling man to another. Her second husband, Greg Allman, tried to break up with her after she reunited professionally with Sonny for the Sonny & Cher show, according to People.
Later, she blamed Allman’s drug use for their relationship problems.
Asked by Jimmy Fallon whether she had enjoyed excavating her life to write the book, Cher admitted it was hard.
“It was a b----,” she said.
She had to go through her life a couple of times because the first time she couldn’t quite work it out. The second time, “I just didn’t want to tell anything,” she explained.
At a certain point she thought she should just give the money back because there were things she wanted to guard.
But eventually, she decided, “I have to tell everything.”
Part 2 of Cher’s memoir is slated to be released next year.
