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Cher has been a world-famous singer and actor for decades, but she has an intriguing past. Did you know the Oscar winner was once arrested as a teen? She and her mother recall the star’s run-in with the police.
Cher has had a successful career in music and movies
Cher rose to fame as half of the singing duo Sonny & Cher. She and her husband Sonny Bono had a string of hits, such as “I Got You Babe” and “The Beat Goes On,” and a successful variety TV show.
The singer eventually went solo, selling millions of records and putting out hits like “Believe” and “If I Could Turn Back Time.” Cher has also made a name for herself as an actor, earning an Academy Award for Moonstruck and delighting audiences in Mermaids and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.
Why was Cher arrested as a teen?
Before hitting it big, Cher ran into trouble with the law. In 2013, she and her mother, Georgia Holt, appeared on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno to promote the Lifetime special Dear Mom, Love Cher. During the interview, Holt revealed her daughter got carted off to jail when she was about 13 or 14.
According to Holt, Cher and a friend were hanging out with her friend’s boyfriend in his car. At one point, he pulled over and went into a building to run an errand. While he was inside, Cher had to keep moving the car.
Finally, tired of shifting the vehicle, Cher drove herself and her friend to get a soda. “And then the police came,” the pop diva interjected.
“[They] called me at 3:30 in the morning and said, ‘We have your daughter down here at the police station,’” Holt recalled (via The List).
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Cher quickly added that she had no memory of being arrested, but Holt provided a mugshot.
In a later interview on The Graham Norton Show, Cher gave a few more details of the arrest. She said the image people thought was her mugshot was a grade school picture with prisoner numbers photoshopped underneath.
“I swear to God, I would cop to it if it was true,” Cher said. She then repeated the car story. “I just thought, ‘I’m going to take us out,’ and so we went to a drive-in to get something to drink, and we got arrested. But not exactly arrested — just taken to jail.”
Do Cher and her mother have a good relationship?
Despite her teenage rebellion, Cher and Holt are incredibly close. The star’s mother has also had a showbiz career, appearing on The Dinah Shore Show and The Merv Griffin Show and releasing her debut album in 2013.
“We fought a lot when I was young. I was really strong-headed, even then,” Cher admitted to People. “She never gave me and my sister advice because, truthfully, she knew we’d never take it.”
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