Cher has spoken candidly about how she struggled as a mother when her son Chaz transitioned.
The Believe singer, 77, has two children – Chaz, 54, with first husband Sonny Bono, and Elijah Blue, 47, with her former second husband Gregg Allman.
Chaz came out as transgender in 2009 and Cher admitted at the time that she didn’t “handle [it] all that well in the beginning”. She has now elaborated on those comments in a new interview.
When asked to describe her experience of parenthood, as someone who has navigated “things...not all parents navigate”, the musician told The LA Times: “When Chaz went through the transition, that was difficult for me.
“It shouldn’t have been because, you know, I’ve had gay friends forever. I just met some beautiful trans chicks and we have an affinity. Now I’m totally fine,” she continued.
The music icon, who has a loyal LGBTQ+ fan base, explained the “hard thing for me” wasn’t the transition itself but rather “waiting to see who the person would be”.
She added: “...It’s hard to lose one child to get a new one, especially so late. I think that was the hard thing for me. I don’t think it was the transition. It was waiting to see who the person would be, and would they be so much different than the person that was before them...”
Writer, musician, and activist, Chaz went on to become the first transgender contestant to appear on the US version of Strictly Come Dancing, Dancing With The Stars in 2011. They finished in seventh place.
Elsewhere, Cher recently denied allegations that she hired four men to kidnap her son Elijah Blue.
Court documents filed by Elijah Blue Allman’s wife, Marieangela King, allege that four men “removed” him from a New York hotel room on their anniversary in November 2022.
The pair had reportedly been at the hotel attempting to work on their marriage after Allman filed for divorce in 2021.
