Cher has failed in her attempt to take control of her adult son’s finances through an emergency conservatorship, after a court in Los Angeles ruled there was not sufficient evidence of his alleged drug abuse.
A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Superior Court confirmed on Monday night that the court had ruled in favor of Elijah Blue Allman, 47, who was resisting the order and argued that he is now drug-free.
Pop music legend Cher, 77, applied for the order late last year on the basis that he was struggling with addiction and posed a risk to himself.
The court heard the case in January, but adjourned it to this week to give Allman’s legal team more time to read all the documents.
Cher’s legal team argued in a document filed on Jan. 5 that the order was needed to stop “immediate and substantial harm” and that “due to severe mental health and substance abuse issues, Elijah is not currently able to manage his finances.”
Cher’s petition said that Allman was entitled to regular payments from a trust fund founded by his father — the musician Gregg Allman, who died in 2017.
If he were to receive those funds, they “will be immediately spent on drugs, leaving Elijah with no assets to provide for himself and putting his life at risk,” the filing said.
Allman disputed those claims and argued he was clean and recovering.
“While I understand that my mother, the proposed conservator, believes she is looking out for my best interests and I appreciate her love and support, I do not need her unsolicited help at this time,” Allman said in a court document also filed on Jan. 5.
“In the two weeks since that initial hearing, I have been successfully managing my income and expenses and have refrained from the use of illicit substances that have historically caused the incidents that have given rise to my mother’s concern,” he said in a separate document submitted to the court on Monday and seen by NBC News.
Allman also alleged in the document that Cher took his car, which he had reported missing, and kept it at her home in Malibu.
He had tested negative on three separate drug and alcohol tests and had attended 15 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings since March of last year, according to Allman’s filing.
NBC News has contacted attorneys for both Cher and Allman to ask for comment.