Phil Spector allegedly threatened Cher with a revolver decades before being convicted of second-degree murder in 2009.
The “If I Could Turn Back Time” singer, 78, made the startling revelation in her newly released self-titled book, “Cher: The Memoir.”
According to the Grammy winner, after she completed her 1974 album “Dark Lady,” Spector approached her about joining forces for new music. The pair were set up through Cher’s then-boyfriend David Geffen.
She claimed that Spector asked her and Harry Nilsson to record a “guide vocal” on the Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas’ song “A Love Like Yours.” He said he’d pass the music to John Lennon for review, as she and Nilsson sang back-up on the Beatles frontman’s “Rock ‘n’ Roll” album.
But Cher said the music producer-turned-convicted murderer — who died in 2021 — misled them.
Spector allegedly released the single illegally in Europe, infuriating Cher because it violated both her and Nilsson’s record contracts.
She decided to take matters into her own hands — and that’s when all hell broke loose.
In her memoir, Cher revealed that she drove to Spector’s home to confront him about the issue. When she arrived, the pair met in a room with a pool table.
“I went in and gave him a hug,” she wrote, per Entertainment Weekly. “Then I told him, ‘Phillip, you know you can’t do this. Harry’s on one label, I’m on another, and you put it out under yours. What were you thinking?’”
However, Spector didn’t appreciate her line of questioning and pushed back by grabbing his gun.
“He became agitated and got kind of smart with me — a little too smart, like he was trying to intimidate me,” she explained. “He told me he could do whatever he wanted. He said our record companies could sue him if they didn’t like it. Then he picked up a revolver that I hadn’t previously noticed lying on the green felt.”
Mercilessly, Cher didn’t let the move intimidate her, and she stood up to the “Little Man.”
“Staring at him in fury, as he twirled it around his fingers, I said, ‘Don’t f–k with me, Phillip!’” she wrote. “‘You can’t pull that s— on me, you a–hole. This is me, Cher, okay? You’ve known me since I was sixteen and you’re going to try to do this with me? Put that f–king gun down and promise me you’ll never do anything like this s–t with my music again, okay?’”
Cher added that she never believed Spector would have used the weapon on her, revealing he apologized to her as she stormed out.
It’s an eerie confession, considering the music man shot and killed actress Lana Clarkson in 2003.
Spector claimed it was an “accidental suicide.”
His murder trial started on March 19, 2007. After 12 days of deliberation, the jury was deadlocked and declared a mistrial.
Spector was convicted of second-degree murder after the second trial. He was sentenced to 19 years to life in prison. He served his sentence until his death. Spector died of natural causes in January 2021.
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