Inside Elijah Blue Allman’s troubled relationship with his mother Cher, 77, as singer files for conservatorship of her son – following claims she hired four men to kidnap him

Cher has filed court papers to place her son Elijah Blue Allman under conservatorship after years of tension between the couple.

The 77-year-old singer claimed he is addicted to drugs, unable to manage his financial affairs, and dealing with health issues, both physical and mental, with a court date set for March 2024.

This is just the latest development in Cher and her son's troubled relationship, which has seen the pair repeatedly spar publicly.

Elijah Blue is the son of Cher and late rock star Gregg Allman, who died in May 2017 at the age of 69and has faced numerous personal issues in recent years.

MailOnline looks back at the couple's problems in recent years…

Drug war

Elijah has admitted in the past that he started using drugs at the age of 11 and has had a long battle with heroin addiction.

In a 2014 interview with Entertainment Tonight, Elijah said, “I started doing drugs around the same time we all did, around 11 o'clock.

“I mean, it's exactly what you did, it's exactly what everyone else did.”

He said he started with marijuana and ecstasy and later moved on to harder drugs.

“I just wanted to escape from all the things in my past and then you turn to those types of drugs, you know heroin and opiates,” he said.

'Heroin saved me somewhat. If I hadn't had that at the time, I don't know what I would have done. You can jump off a bridge. As long as you can get through that period and live through it and then get help.'

He admitted that there were times when he almost died.

“I've had some close calls and some moments where I really felt on the edge of mortality,” he said.

'I've always kept it a bit safe, but you can never do that. Even though you think that in your head, the wrong things can of course happen.

“A wrong combination of things can happen and you can just end up in the abyss.

“I knew it was wrong and I knew I was very dissatisfied with life at that moment.”

Public arguments

Much of the tension between Cher and Elijah stems from his estranged wife Marieangela King.

Elijah married Marieangela, 36, who goes by the name Queenie in the rock band KING, in 2013. They have no children.

Born in Mumbai, India, to a British father and a German mother and whose childhood spanned 30 different countries, King is one of six siblings who have starred in KING at various times.

Cher, 77, has long had a contentious relationship with Elijah and her daughter-in-law Marieangela, whom he met in Germany after going there for treatment for a particularly bad case of Lyme disease.

The film and music icon reportedly did not congratulate the newlyweds after they eloped and even refused to acknowledge their engagement.

She often did not even speak to her son for months or even years, whom she had taken out of boarding school when he was eight.

Hiring a concierge

In early September, Cher hired a caregiver to keep an eye on her troubled son, who had a tendency to leave the hotel and wander down the street.

“The concierge was waiting at the hotel entrance to see where and what Elijah was up to.”

But things came to a head on September 14, the day Cher had planned an intervention with her son, DailyMail.com learned.

Before that could happen, hotel staff found his lifeless body, lying face down on the sidewalk leading to the hotel entrance, with his arms at his sides. The hotel staff picked him up and took him inside.

Two days later, police arrived and escorted Elijah out of the hotel, the source said. He was then taken for another stint in rehab.

Kidnapping claims

In September, Cher was accused of hiring four men to kidnap her son from a hotel room just as he was trying to reconcile with his wife on their wedding anniversary.

The Oscar, Emmy and Grammy winner was concerned about Elijah Blue Allman's health, her daughter-in-law Marieangela King said in a statement to a Los Angeles court hearing the couple's divorce.

In her statement to the court, King said she and Elijah spent 12 days in New York working on their marriage.

“Given the right time, I believe we will reconcile,” she said.

But their attempts to kiss and make up were interrupted, she wrote.

“On November 30, 2022, the night of our wedding anniversary, four people came to our hotel room and took (Elijah) out of our room.

“One of the four men who took him told me they were hired by (Elijah's) mother.

In the complaint, filed four days after the alleged kidnapping, she added: “I am currently unaware of the well-being or whereabouts of my husband,” although she added that he was “confined in a treatment center that is not known'.

She concluded the statement by saying, “I understand his family's efforts to ensure he is well, and I want the best for my husband.”

In October, Cher spoke with People about King's past claims that Cher kidnapped Elia, calling them “not true.”

She added, “I don't have any problem that millions of people in the United States don't have. I am a mother. This is my job, in whatever way I can, to try to help my children.

'You do everything for your children. When you can help them, you just do it, because that's what being a mother is.

“But it is joy, even in heartache. When you think about your kids, you usually just smile and love them and try to be there for them.”

Marieangela's accusations

In her statement to the court, Marieangela also said she could not pay her lawyers because Elijah's spousal support was paid only sporadically.

“I have only received a total of $25,000, half of the support due,” she said.

She also said Cher kicked her out of the house she was living in after Elijah began unspecified “medical care” in August 2022.

“I had lost both my housing and health care and had to leave the country to stay with family for a while,” she said.

'During my husband's absence, I was asked by (Elijah's) mother to leave our parental home.

“I was not allowed to retrieve all of my belongings from our main home and residence, nor was I given the opportunity to inventory our belongings.”

She also said she had been unable to remove her belongings from a storage unit that contained “unique works of art, antiques and musical instruments” that were due to be appraised before the divorce.

Cher files for conservatorship

In December 2023, Cher filed court papers to place Elijah Blue Allman under conservatorship, claiming he was addicted to drugs, unable to manage his financial affairs, and dealing with health issues, both physical and mental.

She said in court documents reviewed by TMZ that Elijah is “substantially unable to manage his own financial resources due to serious mental health and substance abuse issues.”

According to the newspaper, a trial on the matter has been set for March 6, 2024.

Cher said Elijah receives interim payments from a trust Allman set up, and she worries he will use his money to obtain more medications instead of paying essential expenses.

The If I Could Turn Back Time singer said that as Elijah's mother, she is best suited to be a conservator, and that she has received internal family support on the matter.

Cher said Elijah's estranged wife Marieangela King, 36, has been a destructive presence in his life and is hindering efforts to get him the help he needs with drug and mental health issues.

The If I Could Turn Back Time singer said that as Elijah's mother, she is best suited to be a conservator, and that she has received internal family support on the matter.

Cher said Marieangela has been a destructive presence in his life and is hindering efforts to get him the help he needs with drug and mental health issues.