Red Flags In Cher's Relationship History We Can All Learn From

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For better or for worse, Cher has never let age differences get in the way of love. While attending Paris Fashion Week in 2022, 76-year-old Cher crossed paths with 36-year-old Alexander "AE" Edwards. Needless to say, their 40-year age gap didn't escape people's minds when they went public with their relationship the following year. However, during a November 2025 appearance on "CBS Mornings," Cher said that she paid the naysayers no mind, stating, "They're not living my life. Nobody knows what goes on between us, but we just have a blast." 

The Oscar winner also made it clear that her beau wasn't fazed by their generational age difference either, noting, "He just says, 'You know, you get older, but your spirit is younger.'" Somewhat surprisingly, Cher and Edwards aren't alone in their dating beliefs since research from 2024 also showed that age-gap relationships were no biggie to the majority of daters. However, the "Believe" hitmaker's decision to date significantly younger men could be seen as an overcorrection that stemmed from her experiences dating men who were significantly older than her. 

In fact, over the course of her relationship history, Cher has dealt with just about every red flag in the book. While one of her spouses was an overly controlling man who cheated on her, the other had a substance abuse issue that made for a tumultuous marriage. There are also, unfortunately, whispers that her relationship with Edwards is headed for trouble as well. Although it's good that Cher remains open to love after being burned so many times, her relationship history is rife with difficulties we can all learn from.

When Cher met Sonny Bono at a coffee shop in 1962, she was only 16, and he was 27. In her 2018 SiriusXM special "The Cher Show: Making the Musical," she made it abundantly clear that their 11-year age gap didn't faze her from the get-go, revealing that she asked to platonically become roommates with him only a day after their first encounter (via Us Weekly). During a November 2024 appearance on "CBS Sunday Morning," she admitted that she had lied and told Bono that she was 18. 

Needless to say, Cher's mother was extremely displeased about the idea of her daughter living with a grown man when she was a teen, and even threatened Bono with jail time. Cher also shared that their age gap didn't get in the way of their platonic living arrangement turning romantic because Bono was quite juvenile. "He got to be real with me because I didn't expect anything," she continued. "I didn't want money, I didn't think about anything, you know. And all these other women that were his age, they wanted him to be grown up." 

Even so, there was still an obvious imbalance of power in their age gap relationship, especially because Cher was heavily reliant on him. But this wasn't her first encounter with a much older man. Shortly before Cher and Bono met, she had a brief fling with Warren Beatty, who was a decade older than her. In her 2024 memoir "Cher," the pop icon shared that she was only 15 when she ran into the Hollywood star. Despite that uncomfortable age gap, the pair still shared a kiss (via Entertainment Weekly). 

In Cher's 2024 self-titled memoir, she recalled how she had learned that Sonny Bono was cheating on her with his assistant when she woke up to get some water on a random night in 1967. When that realization hit, Cher was already reeling from the pain of her third miscarriage. Tragically, the Grammy winner's heartache didn't end there because when she told her mother of her husband's infidelity, she informed her that she had also heard whispers of his unfaithfulness (via People).

To make matters even worse, Bono completely shifted the blame for his actions onto Cher when she brought it up. "'I wouldn't have had to look outside our marriage if I was sexually satisfied,' he insisted," Cher wrote, recalling her then-husband's reaction. "That was such bulls***, but by the time he'd finished I found myself apologizing." Notably, a relationship can come back from infidelity if a couple manages to get through three phases. However, Bono's lack of accountability should have ideally taken a reconciliation off the table and sent Cher running. But that wasn't the case, as their marriage persevered for another seven years. 

Despite that heartbreaking experience, Cher went on to have an unconventional relationship with Gene Simmons. In a 1979 People interview, the pop icon shared that the Kiss frontman would sleep around with other women with her knowledge. While she also admittedly met up with other men for "companionship," she was still committed to him. During a January 2025 appearance on "Howie Mandel Does Stuff," Simmons confessed to cheating on Cher with her friend Diana Ross. And he ultimately ended their relationship to be with Ross. 

During the course of her decade-long marriage to the late Sonny Bono, Cher noticed several signs that he had a controlling personality. While appearing on the "Armchair Expert" podcast in January 2026, the "Moonstruck" star shared that her first husband had barred her from leaving their home unless she was going shopping. One time, the Republican politician set some of her clothes on fire in their backyard after discovering that she had gone to a party without his knowledge. In her self-titled memoir, Cher revealed that her first husband had also ordered her to never wear perfume to stay in line with his preferences. 

During a December 2024 appearance on the "Q with Tom Power" podcast, she shared that she was initially happy to let Bono call the shots in their life because she was a teen when they met. However, Cher began to feel the walls tighten around her as she grew older and "The Sonny and Cher Show" soared in popularity. Shortly after Cher realized that she couldn't thrive under Bono's thumb, she learned that he had greater control over their finances than she had previously realized. 

Although they were equal partners on-screen for their highly popular show, Bono owned 95 percent of Cher Enterprises, and the remaining 5 percent had gone to his lawyer. Despite being the star of the show, Cher was legally only an employee of the company who needed Bono's green light to work. When the "Strong Enough" singer asked her first husband how he could so callously take control over her hard-earned money, he only replied, "I always knew you'd leave me."

There are plenty of early red flags that indicate a relationship won't work out. And Cher's marriage to Gregg Allman had basically all of them. In the late rocker's 2012 memoir "My Cross to Bear," Allman shared that he had lost consciousness on their first date because of his heavy drug use. Still, Cher gave him a second chance, and they decided to have a fun night out at a disco. Although he heavily drank on their second date as well, it still ended with them consummating their relationship. In Cher's memoir, she admitted that she was completely unsure if her relationship with Allman would stand the test of time. 

However, she still decided to marry him just days after finalizing her divorce from Sonny Bono in 1975 because she learned she was pregnant. Only nine days after she walked down the aisle, Cher decided to leave her second husband after learning the full extent of his substance abuse issues. However, when Cher brought up his addiction, Allman told her that he was constantly trying to do better by going to rehab. His answer prompted Cher to put her own feelings on the back burner and think of The Allman Brothers' frontman's struggles. 

Although the "If I Could Turn Back Time" songstress stayed with Allman at the time, his struggles with addiction persisted. "[My breaking] point came soon after when Gregory had a paranoid breakdown one night and insisted he saw men with guns in the backyard," she wrote. "It [was] not safe for kids. It only happened once, but I couldn't risk it" (via Page Six). They parted ways for good in 1979.

In an August 2021 Instagram Story, Alexander "AE" Edwards' ex-girlfriend Amber Rose, whom he dated for three years, claimed that he had cheated on her with 12 women. What made his infidelity even worse was how he callously discussed it on an Instagram Live with DJ Big Von shortly afterward. "I know that I could stop [cheating]," he said. "I could give her a good, solid six months and just really like, deprive myself of my true nature for as long as I can take it, but I don't want to live like that." 

Edwards went on to suggest there was a fundamental clash in his and Rose's personalities because he was inclined to cheat while she was wired for loyalty. According to him, the mother of his child had made plenty of efforts to let his infidelity slide, but ultimately couldn't come to terms with it. Notably, in a since-deleted post on X (formerly Twitter) from November 2022, Cher clearly stated that she was well aware of her beau's controversial past. 

However, in November 2024, a Daily Mail source claimed that Cher's inner circle, including her son, Chaz Bono, had repeatedly warned her that Edwards may have ulterior motives with their relationship. While Cher fended off their concerns that he was solely with her for the money, her nearest and dearest had a hard time believing that because he was receiving a handsome sum to produce her album. Cher's inner circle was apparently particularly concerned about Edwards' involvement in her music because they believed that he stood to receive a hefty payday if it were to be her final album.