Cher Let Slip an F-Bomb on Today While Sharing Lucille Ball’s Advice: ‘You Said You Would Bleep It!’
By Website Content Manager
The iconic star left NBC’s censors wishing they could turn back time on Tuesday morning.
Cher made a memorable appearance on Today during her live interview with Hoda Kotb on Tuesday, Nov. 19, where she was promoting her new memoir. The 78-year-old music legend accidentally dropped the F-word, causing a stir in the studio. Kotb quickly reacted with a surprised gasp, then laughed it off, saying, “OK… we didn’t have the seven-second [delay]! But we will get for the next feed!”
The moment occurred after Kotb asked Cher about the advice she received from her longtime friend Lucille Ball following her 1975 divorce from former husband and TV co-host Sonny Bono.
Cher had actually warned Kotb that her answer might not be suitable for TV. “I can’t say it on TV,” she said before asking if the producers would “bleep it.”
“We’ll bleep it!” Kotb, 60, assured her.
“OK…” Cher replied, continuing with her story. She shared how she reached out to Lucille Ball, who had experienced a highly public breakup with her husband and I Love Lucy co-star, Desi Arnaz, 15 years prior. “I said, ‘Lucy, I’m calling you because to my knowledge, there’s never been a situation besides mine except yours,'” Cher recalled. “And she said, ‘F— him. You’re the one with the talent!'”
After dropping the F-bomb and realizing it hadn’t been bleeped, Cher turned to Kotb and said, “Well, you said I could!”
“I should have bleeped it myself!” Kotb laughed. “Bleep!”
Aside from that moment, the rest of Cher’s appearance on Today was filled with juicy insights into the legendary entertainer’s early life, which she details in her new memoir, Cher: The Memoir, Part 1, released today.
One of the revelations even hinted at the F-bomb moment later in the interview. Early on, Cher talked about “making mistakes in public constantly” when she first got together with Sonny at the age of 16, while he was 27.
Kotb asked, “Do you care when you make mistakes in public?”
Cher responded, “Well, I think I used to, but… I just don’t think I do anymore. What are they going to do to me now? I’m 78! What are they going to do to me?!”
Cher also reflected on her challenging upbringing before recounting the evolution of her relationship with Sonny Bono, who passed away in 1998 at age 62 in a skiing accident. When they divorced, he famously left her with “a car and clothes.”
“He took it all. He took it all,” Cher said, recalling how Bono — who later served as a U.S. Representative from California from 1997 to 1999 — was the dominant figure in their relationship.
“I was just, I don’t know, I was not an employee, that’s for sure, but I didn’t have any freedom,” Cher shared. “We had a company that I didn’t even know was a company. It was called Cher Enterprises. And I… it was like very Born Yesterday — I’m signing everything and I have no idea what I’m signing.”