Cher takes legal action against Sonny Bono’s widow lawsuit over royalties

Cher has recently contested ex-husband Sonny Bono’s widow Mary over royalties in the court.

Radar Online reported that the singer wants federal judge to dismiss all the claims filed against her.

The outlet mentioned that Cher sued Mary back in 2021, claiming she was withholding money owed from Sonny & Cher’s classic joint hits.

The singer revealed that the royalties “were owned from songs like The Beat Goes On and I Got You Babe”.

In the lawsuit, Cher pointed out that she and Sonny concurred to “split their royalties equally in their 1975 divorce”.

The musician stated that Sonny’s widow Mary had been collecting royalties that’s not owed to her.

Therefore, Cher demanded $1 million in damages and pleaded the court to find the divorce agreement to be valid”.

Cher also asserted that federal law gave her the “authority to terminate the divorce agreement”.

However, Mary maintained that the 50% deal had expired and the royalties were now paid to Sonny’s heirs.

“Sonny could grant Cher his then-current rights, including a 50% royalty interest in his copyrights. Sonny could not, however, have signed away his heirs’ future rights of termination,” read Mary’s motion.

Mary further said, “The heirs’ right to terminate under the Copyright Act preempts Cher’s state law breach of contract claim. Therefore, her claim fails.”

Meanwhile, Cher now requested the court to reject the entire counterclaim and allow her lawsuit to move forward.

The musician said, “Mary has wrongfully induced a third party to pay her the royalties.”

Moreover, Cher demanded Mary pay her legal fees associated with fighting the counterclaim.