Cher has responded to Michael Douglas’s dig at her 1988 Oscars win with four graceful words: “Cher adores Michael Douglas.” A representative for the iconic singer told Entertainment Weekly the message on November 2, after Douglas said Glenn Close should have won the Best Actress Oscar instead.
During an appearance on The Graham Norton Show last week, Douglas gave his brutally honest thoughts on Cher winning the Best Actress Oscar over Close in 1988. Douglas, 82, said Close “should have won with Fatal Attraction” before noting “Cher won that year.” Host Graham Norton reacted with “Oh, wow,” and Douglas replied: “I know, that’s what we all said!”
Close steps in
Close, seated next to Douglas on the October 30 episode alongside Kieran Culkin and Naomi Ackie, lightly scolded him in the moment: “Michael, be kind!” The exchange circulated widely on social media over the weekend, prompting Cher’s brief, pointed response.
At the 60th Academy Awards in April 1988, Cher took home the prize for Best Actress for her performance as Loretta Castorini in Moonstruck, beating Close’s Fatal Attraction nomination, as well as Holly Hunter and others. Douglas himself won Best Actor that night for Wall Street.
An honorary Oscar looms
The timing of Douglas’s comments lands weeks before Close receives an honorary Academy Award at the 17th Governors Awards in Los Angeles on November 15. Close, who has been nominated eight times without a competitive win, quipped on the show: “They probably don’t want to feel guilty anymore.”
Cher’s four-word reply, meanwhile, has been praised as a masterclass in handling shade: no argument, no insult, just affection. Nearly forty years after Moonstruck, the Oscar still has the power to start a conversation — and Cher still knows exactly how to end one.
