Cher ordered to pay over $1 million in legal fees
Cher has been ordered to bear more than $1 million in her own legal expenses despite previously winning a long-running legal battle over music royalties linked to her former husband and musical partner, Sonny Bono.
The legal dispute began in October 2021 when the legendary singer and actress filed a lawsuit against Sonny Bono’s widow, Mary Bono. Cher sought to protect her right to receive royalties from songs recorded during the successful Sonny & Cher partnership and claimed she was entitled to damages after her royalty payments were challenged.
According to the lawsuit, Cher argued that her 1978 divorce settlement with Sonny Bono guaranteed her a 50% share of the royalties generated by their music catalogue. She alleged that Mary Bono had attempted to terminate those royalty rights under U.S. copyright law, depriving her of income she was legally entitled to receive.
The dispute centred on whether Cher’s contractual rights established through the divorce agreement could continue despite copyright termination provisions. Cher maintained that the divorce settlement remained valid and enforceable, while Mary Bono challenged those claims.
In May 2024, the court ruled in Cher’s favour on the central issue. The judge found that she was entitled to unpaid royalty payments and awarded her more than $418,000 in damages for royalties that had been withheld.
Following that victory, Cher sought to recover the legal costs she had accumulated while pursuing the case. In January 2026, she filed a request asking the court to award her $1,023,605.30 in attorney’s fees.
Her legal team argued that the case involved a common set of facts across multiple claims and counterclaims, making it unnecessary to separate the legal costs for each issue individually. They also contended that any work related to Mary Bono’s partially successful counterclaim represented only a minimal portion of the overall litigation.
However, the judge rejected Cher’s request for attorney’s fees in a ruling issued on July 17. The court concluded that the case was fundamentally a contract dispute rather than one arising under federal copyright law. Because of that distinction, the judge determined that Cher was not entitled to recover her legal expenses from the opposing side.
As a result of the ruling, Cher will have to cover more than $1 million in attorney’s fees herself, despite winning the underlying royalties dispute. Court filings also indicated that approximately $10,000 in additional legal costs was expected to be incurred for her representation.
The case marks the latest chapter in a years-long legal battle involving the financial legacy of Sonny & Cher, one of the most influential entertainment duos of the 1960s and 1970s.
Cher and Sonny Bono rose to international fame with a string of hit songs before expanding into television with The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, which became one of the era’s most popular variety shows. Following their divorce and the end of their professional partnership, both continued with separate careers. Sonny Bono later entered politics, serving as mayor of Palm Springs before being elected to the U.S. Congress, where he remained until his death in 1998.
