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Cher’s contract with her ex-husband and musical collaborator, Sonny Bono, effectively placed her in “involuntary servitude,” the pop icon claims.

In a new two-part memoir, the “Believe” star recalls a conversation with her then-boyfriend, record executive David Geffen, who asked her how she got paid.

At the time, Cher – born Cherilyn Sarkisian – was in the process of divorcing Bono and nearing the end of their star-making variety show, The Sonny & Cher comedy hourthat was canceled due to their split in 1974.

“I told him I didn’t know (how I got paid) because I would never read it,” Cher wrote. “About time you did,” he replied, and somehow, I’m not sure how, he got his hands on the document.

“He called me after he read it and said, ‘Honey, this contract is involuntary servitude. You work for Sonja. You have no rights, no voice, no money, nothing. You’re an employee of something called “Cher Enterprises,” with a salary you probably never got and three weeks of vacation a year.

“He owns 95 percent of the company and the rest belongs to his lawyer, Irwin Spiegel.”

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Cher said she was stunned and initially refused to believe this was the case: “Then David started reading the contract to me, and sure enough, I couldn’t even sign a (check) or withdraw money without Sonny’s signature or Irwin.

“I was an employee of non-owner Cher Enterprises, so I didn’t have access to the money I made for the company,” she said.

“Additionally, I was signed to the company and could only work with Sonny’s permission. That not only meant I had no money, but I couldn’t make any money unless Sonny signed it.”

“Everything David told me was a kick in the stomach,” she continued. “I couldn’t believe this was true. I could understand the words, I just couldn’t understand the meaning. How did it happen? How could Sonny in good conscience do that? He was everything to me and I had been everything to him for a while. Then it got worse. David told me I was stuck with Cher Enterprises for two more years.”

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Cher said she was “more heartbroken than angry” about her situation as she slowly realized that Bono would have left her alone with her car and clothes: “It took several days for the full horror to sink in,” she continued.

‘I’ve worked all my life, but apparently I had nothing to show for it. I never for a second thought I needed to protect myself from Sonny, and yet the contracts he had me sign were secretly designed to deprive me of my income and the rights to my own career.”

She eventually became actor, comedian and producer Lucille Ball, knowing that she had successfully divorced her husband and collaborator Desi Arnaz, and bought out his share of their production company, Desilu.

Geffen then helped Cher find her own lawyer — the same one who had helped Ball with her divorce from Arnaz — who told her she needed to divorce Bono before they could tackle the topic of her career earnings.

However, she wanted to try to appeal to her former partner and so went to his office, insisting that he tear up the contract and write a new one that would give her an equal share of their earnings.

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Bono apparently refused and told her she didn’t know what she was talking about. “I knew I had to fight for my rights,” Cher said. “I had a daughter to raise and a sister and mother to worry about.

“If you don’t agree to give me half the money and redo the contract, Sonny, then I won’t sign with CBS for another year. I won’t do anything to you. I can’t work for nothing,” she told him.

Cher went on to star in her own variety show, Cher, in 1975. She and Bono reconciled professionally to create The Sonny and Cher Show, for which she was paid fairly.

“Sonny had his demons,” Cher said of her ex-husband. “There was something about him that I could never understand, something that took him from a wonderfully funny guy to someone who took everything from me. For years I racked my brains over how he could have done what he did, and to this day I still can’t get over it.

Bono later left his entertainment career and entered politics, where he was a member of the Republican party, the mayor of Palm Springs, California, and the representative of California’s 44th congressional district until his death in a skiing accident in 1998, on 62 years old.

Cher: The Memoirs, Part One is now available from HarperCollins.