Cher Denies Attempting to Kidnap Her Son Elijah: ‘That Rumor Is Not True’

Cher shut down the claims that she attempted to kidnap her son Elijah in November 2022. The singer, 77, addressed the claims made by her daughter-in-law, Marie King, in a new interview with People, published on Wednesday, October 11. While speaking on the claims, she simply said that the “rumor is not true,” and didn’t offer further comment.

Elijah’s estranged wife, Marie, claimed that Cher had hired four men to take Elijah from his New York hotel room in November 2022, in court documents, per People. Marie, 36, claimed she and Elijah, 47, were spending time in NYC to try to “reconcile” their marriage when four men arrived at the hotel to take the “Strong Enough” singer’s son. One of the men allegedly told Marie that Cher had hired them.

While Cher didn’t offer more details about her daughter-in-law’s allegations. She said that she was working on addressing her son’s struggles with addiction. “I’m not suffering from any problem that millions of people in the United States aren’t,” she told the outlet. “I’m a mother. This is my job — one way or another, to try to help my children. You do anything for your children. Whenever you can help them, you just do it because that’s what being a mother is.”

Despite addressing the problem, Cher also explained that being a mother was one of the best feelings. “It’s joy, even with heartache — mostly, when you think of your children, you just smile and you love them, and you try to be there for them,” she said.

Elijah is the younger of Cher’s two sons. She had him with late rocker Gregg Allman in 1976. Like his mom, Elijah is also a musician, although he plays for heavy metal band Deadsy. In the past, Cher had been open about having some tough times with her younger son, with him saying that they’d become estranged. She addressed his claims in a 2018 interview with Parade. “That happened, but I’m not so sure that parents and their kids don’t all go through that,” she said.