Cher breaks silence on Val Kilmer's death with moving tribute to 'brave' ex

Cher has shared a heartbreaking tribute to her ex-boyfriend, . The late Top Gun star died aged 65 .

The actress and singer said: "VALUS Will miss u. U Were funny, crazy, pain in the a*s, GREAT FRIEND, kids [love] U. BRILLIANT as Mark Twain, BRAVE here during ur sickness."

When Val's health started to decline, it was who was there for him, inviting him to stay at her guest house. "One night, I suddenly awoke vomiting blood that covered the bed like a scene out of The Godfather," he said. He went on to add: "I prayed immediately then called 911. Then alerted my hostess. Cher stepped in and stepped up." But despite his condition, Cher managed to make Val laugh.

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Follow updates on Val Kilmer's death as Hollywood reacts to the sad news with .

He recalled: "And yet even in my grave condition, I saw her scanning the paramedic, who was Gregory Peck drop-dead handsome.

"Only in Hollywood, right? Despite the fact that I was covered in blood, I caught her eye and bounced my brows like Groucho Marx. Hubba hubba. Cher was bashful to be busted but then couldn't help laughing out loud at the audacity. Here we were, joking about beauty and desire, while I looked like a stuntman from Tarantino's Reservoir and, yes, while my life seemed to be in mortal danger.

"We laughed out loud before they finished with my vitals and shut me up with an oxygen mask."

Val and Cher dated in the early 1980s. The Batman actor had also been in relationships with Cindy Crawford and .

He went on to in 1988 after the pair met on the set of Willow. They welcomed two children together before the actress filed for divorce in 1995, citing "irreconcilable differences".

Val later told the Tampa Bay Times that he learned of his divorce while he was watching CNN in a hotel room. Opening up to the publication in 1999, Kilmer recalled: "It was no fun."

Joanne, who appeared in and before making a name for herself in Hollywood, ultimately won the custody battle, and took the kids with her to live in LA.

Kilmer admitted at the time: "I miss my children every single way that's possible, and ways I didn't know were possible."

In his memoir, released in 2020 titled I'm Your Huckleberry, Val after deciding against dating for 20 years.

“I haven’t had a girlfriend in 20 years. The truth is I am lonely part of every day,” he wrote in the book.

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