Inside Cher’s Turbulent Family Saga: Alleged Kidnapping, High-Profile Divorces, and More

Here is the short version: Cher is a pop icon with a personal life that keeps finding new chapters. Marriages, kids, public breakups, legal fights, a new boyfriend with a massive age gap, and now a surprise granddaughter. It is messy, a little jaw-dropping at times, and yes — still unfolding.

The fast timeline, so you do not need a corkboard

• 1962: Cher leaves high school to chase music.
• 1964: Marries Sonny Bono.
• 1969: Son Chaz Bono is born.
• 1975: Cher and Sonny split after 11 years; she later calls the relationship rocky. (Sonny died in 1998 after a skiing accident.)
• June 1975: Marries Gregg Allman.
• 1976: Son Elijah Blue Allman is born.
• 1979: Divorces Gregg, citing his drug problems. (Gregg died of liver cancer in 2017.)
• 2010: Cher tells Parade their marriage probably was never built to last.
• 2013: Says she was broke after the Sonny divorce and had to rebuild from scratch in Vegas.
• 2014: Elijah says he started using drugs at 11, claims sobriety since 2008.
• November 2022: Elijah is allegedly removed from a hotel room by four people, according to his wife at the time, Marieangela King. Same month, Cher starts dating Alexander 'AE' Edwards.
• May 2023: Cher and AE break up briefly.
• September 2023: They are back together.
• October 2023: Cher calls herself a mom doing what moms do; denies a rumor she kidnapped Elijah.
• December 2023: Cher files for a conservatorship over Elijah, citing substance and mental health issues.
• January 2024: A judge denies her emergency request; notes Elijah has housing, manages money, and passed several drug tests.
• February–March 2024: Subpoena for Elijah’s medical records; he moves to protect them as privileged and private.
• May 2024: Cher and Elijah agree in mediation to pause the conservatorship fight, for now.
• February 2026: Elijah is arrested in New Hampshire after an alleged disturbance at a prep school; trial set for June 16, 2026.
• March 2026: Elijah is arrested again in Windham, NH, accused of breaking into a house; charged with burglary and more.
• April 2026: Cher files a new conservatorship petition, pushes for fiduciary Jason Rubin to handle Elijah’s finances.
• Days later: Elijah’s ex Kayti Edwards says she and Elijah have a daughter named Ever from 2010; says Cher recently reached out and is trying to build a relationship.

Sonny, success, and a breakup that cost her

Cher and Sonny Bono were a brand, then a marriage, then a cautionary tale. They married in 1964, had Chaz in 1969, and split in 1975. Looking back, Cher has been blunt about Sonny’s cheating and why their marriage probably never stood a chance.

"One woman, or even five, was not enough for him... I’m not sure we should’ve ever been husband and wife."

Post-divorce, she says she was broke, owed Sonny $2 million, and clawed her way back by grinding out two shows a night in Las Vegas. Her managers, she says, made more than she did during that stretch. It took a while, but she rebuilt.

Gregg Allman, Elijah’s birth, and a no-go on drugs

Cher married Gregg Allman in June 1975, had son Elijah Blue Allman in 1976, and divorced in 1979, largely over Gregg’s addiction. Years later, she told a UK outlet that drugs and she were never compatible and that she saw firsthand how that life wrecked people — including Gregg.

Elijah’s own addiction history

Elijah has talked about using drugs very young — he said he started around 11 and later described turning to heroin and opiates to outrun the past. In a 2014 interview, he said he had been sober since 2008. In 2023, Cher said what she was dealing with as a parent wasn’t unique: she is a mom who will do whatever it takes to help her kids, even when it hurts.

The hotel incident, the artwork, and a very messy family dispute

In late 2022, Elijah’s then-wife, musician Marieangela King, filed a declaration saying that in November 2022, four people came to a hotel room and removed Elijah, and that she wasn’t allowed to contact him afterward while he was allegedly in an undisclosed treatment facility without his phone. She said she understood the family wanted him well, but still asked a court for access to his health records and, separately, the return of personal items she claimed were at Cher’s Malibu home — her car, other belongings, and the deeds to four Michael Jackson artworks she says Cher took from her room while she was performing in 2021.

Cher, asked about the kidnapping allegation in October 2023, said the "rumor is not true" and didn’t elaborate.

Cher and AE: the age gap romance she is not apologizing for

Cher started seeing music exec Alexander 'AE' Edwards in November 2022. They split in May 2023, got back together by September, and in October she said they simply click — they talk music, joke around, and she adores his young son. Yes, there is a 40-year age gap. No, she does not seem fazed.

Conservatorship, round one (and a time-out)

In December 2023, Cher asked a court to put Elijah’s finances under a conservatorship, arguing he could not manage money because of serious mental health and substance issues, and warning that assets due from his late father’s trust would be blown on drugs — risking his life. She also said King shouldn’t be conservator given what she called a cycle of drug and mental health crises in the marriage.

In January 2024, a judge denied her emergency bid. The court noted Elijah had an apartment, was managing his money, and had submitted several clean drug tests, so there wasn’t an urgent need for control.

In February 2024, Cher subpoenaed Elijah’s medical records at Cedars-Sinai. In March, Elijah and his lawyers asked the court to put those records under a protective order, arguing they were privileged (doctor-patient and therapist-patient), that the subpoena was filed in bad faith and couldn’t be fulfilled in time, and that it misused the discovery process. In May 2024, mother and son went to private mediation and agreed to pause the conservatorship fight — temporarily.

2026: arrests in New Hampshire

Things escalated in early 2026. In February, Elijah was arrested in New Hampshire on two counts of assault and one count each of criminal trespass, criminal threatening, and disorderly conduct after an alleged disturbance at a prep school. He waived arraignment and has a trial set for June 16, 2026, according to local outlet WMUR.

In March, he was arrested again after allegedly breaking into a home in Windham, New Hampshire. Police say he was charged with burglary, two counts of criminal mischief, and breach of bail.

Conservatorship, round two

In April 2026, Cher filed a new conservatorship petition, this time asking for fiduciary Jason Rubin to take over Elijah’s finances. In the filing, she claims Elijah spends money immediately and mostly on drugs, expensive hotels, and limo rides, and that his situation has gotten worse since her 2023 attempt. She also says he is being held at a psychiatric hospital in New Hampshire to try to restore his competency to face criminal charges.

The surprise granddaughter

Days after that second filing, Elijah’s ex Kayti Edwards — yes, the step-granddaughter of Julie Andrews — said she and Elijah had a daughter named Ever from a 2010 relationship. Edwards told a UK tabloid Elijah wasn’t involved in raising Ever because he didn’t want to be a parent. She says he did tell his now-estranged wife King about the child, which sparked family chatter. According to Edwards, Cher reached out in June of last year to ask if it was true; Cher had apparently heard something from Elijah in 2021 but didn’t know whether to believe it.

Edwards says Cher was shocked, is still processing, but has started building a relationship with Ever — sending birthday and Christmas gifts and inviting her to stay overnight at Cher’s Malibu place. Edwards adds that, despite old claims that Cher didn’t want to be a grandmother, the experience so far has been positive. A rep for Cher was contacted for comment.

Where this leaves everyone

It is a lot: a son who has battled addiction since childhood, back-to-back arrests, two conservatorship attempts, a turbulent marriage to his estranged wife, a high-profile new romance for Cher, and a late-breaking granddaughter. For someone who has lived most of her life onstage, the most dramatic beats lately have been happening off it.