In addition to being Oscar winners, Meryl Streep and Cher are real life superheroes.
Back in the 1980s, the celebrity gal pals saved a woman from a vicious assault on the sometimes cruel mean streets of New York City.
The “Believe” singer shared the harrowing ordeal while appearing on “The Late Late Show with James Corden” with the British host in 2018 while promoting “Mama Mia: Here We Go Again.”
Almost 40 years ago, the singer-turned-actress remembered it like it was yesterday, recalling a “gigantic man” attacked a young woman and upon seeing it they sprang into action.
According to Cher, Meryl had just had her daughter, Mamie Gummer, in 1983, and was living in her old downtown Manhattan apartment. During her visit, “The Devil Wears Prada” star said to her that she wanted to go get “some ice cream.”
Cher agreed and the two stepped out.
“I said, ‘But is it dangerous down here?” the now-78-year-old asked. Cher remembered her friend telling her, “Oh no. It’s Little Italy on one side and Chinatown on the other side and we’ll be safe as two peas in a pod.”
The star continued, saying, “And so we walk out and the first thing we see is some guy hitting cars with a brick.”
Luckily, no one was hurt, to her knowledge at the time, but that would change quickly.
“And then We walked down the street and we hear screaming,” she said. “And we come around the corner, and this gigantic man is ripping the clothes off of this girl.”
It would have made sense for the two to run or either yell for the police, but they did nothing of the sort. Instead, they did the unthinkable.
“Meryl starts screaming, and I start screaming, and we run toward this gigantic man and he turns and starts running toward us. And just out of, I don’t know, we split and he ran through us,” she said. “And so we went up to the girl, and all of her clothes were torn and she was clutching her bag.”
But then, when the young woman looked up to see who came swooping in to save her, she lost it saying, according to the “I Got You Babe” singer, “Oh my God! I was saved by Meryl Streep and Cher. I’m an actress, and I work in a café where we sing, and all my friends are going to be so jealous.”
The story resurfaced after it was posted by The Cher Planet fan page on Instagram, where many fans weighed in.
Some people were shocked that the two were so close, writing, “I’m sorry, MERYL AND CHER ARE BESTIES?!?! now that’s THE power couple.”
The power duo also are box office darlings, with four movies that they starred in still available in DVD or to be streamed: “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again,” “Skinwalker Ranch,” “Stuck on You,” and “Silkwood.”
In the early spring, the two donned similar outfits to the ones they wore to the “Silkwood” premiere 40 years ago at the 2024 iHeart Radio Music Awards, the New York Post reports.
However, fans also zoned in on the story about the heroic act.
“Imagine being saved by Cher and Meryl Streep,” a comment read.
One person explained, “Super powers can be a whole lot of courage. Thank God she wanted ice cream. That was the universe telling them they had a job to do.”
There were some who wanted to hear from the waitress and others who said, “I bet the waitress had been telling that story for years, but everybody was always, ‘Suuuure, they did.’”
“I can’t even wrap my head around being saved by freakin CHER and MERYL STREEP,” one person remarked, adding, “ I would totally forget about the sa and be star struck too.”
Cher has told this story multiple times. While visiting “The Ellen Show” in 2018 she shared the same story, except she gave a few new details, such as adding that the ordeal happened at night and the man had sweats or basketball shorts on.
She also clarified that the man was a robber and “wanted” her purse — never mentioning sexual assault.
Cher also said she thought to herself, “I’m gonna get killed. My friend’s gonna kill me,” but when they were out of danger, the buddies went on to try and fix the young lady up when then were recognized.
One fan it on the nose, writing, “That girl had the worst day and the best day of her life.”
