Cher, affectionately called “the goddess of pop,” must pay her own $1 million legal fees in the case against Sonny BonoMary Bono’s widow. While the 80-year-old won the legal case for unpaid royalties in May 2024, the court denied him the bill for attorney’s fees. After Mary stopped payments to Cher, the singer hired top lawyers to secure a victory in the case, but now she has to cover the payments.Here’s a closer look at the legal battle between Cher, Sonny Bono and Mary Bono.
Cher and Sonny Bono: the successful collaboration
Cher and Sonny Bono collaborated after she rose to fame in the 1960s. As part of their 1978 divorce settlement, the duo formalized a 50% split of royalties. However, the conflict began in 2021, when Cher claimed that Mary Bono tried to terminate the agreement between her and Sonny. The lawsuit allegedly claimed that Bono tried to use a “wholly unenforceable statutory termination provision of the Copyright Act of 1976” to kill the rights deal.
Cher and Mary Bono: The Copyright Lawsuit
In 2024, Mary Bono was ordered to pay more than $418,000 in royalties to Cher after winning the lawsuit. According to Billboard, Judge John A. Kronstadt stated that Cher and Mary’s conflict revolved around a family dispute over contracts and royalties, throwing out the rules that apply to restitution.In the final ruling signed in November 2026, Mary Bono was barred from invoking the Federal Copyright Act to claim the 50 percent royalties awarded to Cher in her divorce settlement, according to Rolling Stone.After Sonny Bono died in 1998 in a skiing accident, Mary was left with a large estate. However, her music rights were eligible for cancellation in 2018, alerting Mary to claim certain interests.Disclaimer: The information in this report is based on a legal hearing as reported by a third-party source. The data provided represent allegations made by the parties involved and are not proven facts. The case is ongoing and no final verdict has been reached. The publication does not claim that the allegations are true.