Cher to Pay Over $1 Million in Her Own Legal Fees After Royalties Win Against Sonny Bono’s Widow

Cher first sued Mary Bono for $1 million over the rights to and royalties from Sonny and Cher hits in 2021

NEED TO KNOW

• Cher was ordered to pay over $1 million in her own legal fees after winning her copyright lawsuit against Mary Bono
• The lawsuit stemmed from a dispute over royalties from Sonny & Cher songs like “I Got You Babe” and “The Beat Goes On”
• Cher argued her rights to 50% of royalties were protected under her 1978 divorce agreement with Sonny Bono

Cher will have to pay her own million-dollar legal fees after a lengthy court battle with the widow of her late ex-husband, Sonny Bono. 

Court documents obtained by PEOPLE on Tuesday, July 21, show that a federal judge has ordered the 80-year-old “After All” singer to cover the attorney’s fees that she “incurred in the successful prosecution of this action against defendant Mary Bono.”

Mary, the 64-year-old former California congresswoman, married the late former United States Representative in 1986. The couple remained married until his fatal skiing accident on Jan. 5, 1998.

Sonny & Cher, whose real names are Salvatore Phillip “Sonny” Bono and Cheryl Sarkisian, were not only a popular music duo, but husband and wife from 1964 until 1975.

In October 2021, Cher filed a complaint against Mary seeking $1 million in damages. 

At the time, the Grammy winner alleged that rights and royalties from the songs Cher and Sonny recorded as a duo, including “I Got You Babe” and “The Beat Goes On,” were being withheld from Cher.

Cher was entitled to 50% as a part of her 1978 divorce agreement with Sonny, but argued in her complaint that Mary allegedly attempted to use a “wholly inapplicable statutory termination provision of the Copyright Act of 1976” to terminate Cher’s rights entirely.

She later won the copyright lawsuit in May 2024, with a California judge determining that Cher was owed more than $418,000 in unpaid royalties.

In January 2026, Cher requested $1,023,605.30 in attorney’s fees, with her attorneys writing that she “incurred attorney’s fees in successfully prosecuting this action,” per court documents obtained by PEOPLE.

“Apportionment of Cher’s fees is unnecessary because her successful breach of contract claim and Defendant’s unsuccessful second counterclaim share a common core of facts with Cher’s declaratory relief claim, and because any fees incurred in relation to Defendant’s partially successful first counterclaim were de minimis,” her attorneys continued.

A hearing was scheduled for March, and on Friday, July 17, Judge John A. Kronstadt denied Cher’s motion, stating that federal copyright law does not apply in this case as the dispute was over contracts, per documents obtained by PEOPLE.

Another estimated $10,000.00 was also expected to be incurred through Cher’s legal defense. 

PEOPLE reached out to attorneys for Cher, but did not immediately receive a response.

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In addition to performing as Sonny & Cher, the former couple also hosted their CBS variety show together, The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, in the 1970s. He later became mayor of Palm Springs from 1988 to 1992, and a Republican congressman from 1995 until his death.

Before his death, he and Cher welcomed a child, Chaz Bono, in 1969. Sonny is also the father of Christine, whom he shares with his first wife, Donna Rankin, and Chesare and Chianna, whom he welcomed with Mary.

Mary could not immediately be reached by PEOPLE for comment.

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