The 17-time Oscar-nominated ‘If I Could Turn Back Time’ songwriter said Cher finds her to be “annoying” but also highlighted a saving grace.

Diane Warren says Cher called her ‘annoying’ in hilarious backhanded compliment

The 17-time Oscar-nominated 'If I Could Turn Back Time' songwriter said Cher finds her to be "annoying" but also highlighted a saving grace.

Joey Nolfi

Joey Nolfi is a senior writer at *. *Since 2016, his work at EW includes RuPaul’s Drag Race video interviews, Oscars predictions, and more.

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May 8, 2026 9:13 a.m. ET

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Cher and Diane Warren. Credit:

Kevin Winter/Getty

- Legendary songwriter Diane Warren has revealed Cher's hilarious backhanded compliment to her.

- The 17-time Oscar nominee said Cher called her "annoying."

- But the iconic performer also found a saving grace to praise in Warren's career.

There's no turning back time on Cher's hilarious backhanded compliment to legendary songwriter Diane Warren.

In a new social media post Friday, Warren — a 17-time Oscar nominee — shared what she said was a comical interaction with the Academy Award-winning legend.

Quoting what she said was a quip from Cher, Warren wrote, "You're annoying but U write great songs," before adding, "haha thnx @Cher" and a series of emojis.

Warren's post also included a photo of the pair posing together, with users noting the blurry quality of the image, while another observed of the pop icon's joke: "This reads exactly like Cher’s memoir."

* *has reached out to a representative for Cher for comment.

Warren and Cher have long been a collaborative pair, with perhaps their most memorable work together being the 1989 smash single "If I Could Turn Back Time" from Cher's *Heart of Stone* album.

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The track was written and produced by Warren, and reached No. 3 on the *Billboard* Hot 100, becoming one of the most successful singles in Cher's career.

Besides Cher, Warren has also had several other well-documented, memorable interactions with pop stars.

In a 2025 interview with EW, Warren looked back on a viral moment that saw Mariah Carey push her out of the way after taking a photo at the 2019 *Variety* Power of Women luncheon.

Cher at the 2026 Met Gala.

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty

"It's so funny," Warren said at the time. "It's so Mariah. People were going, like, 'That was so mean.' But it was so funny because Mariah's a diva, but she's funny about it, and I love her."

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"She literally picked me up," Warren continued of Carey, with whom she has also worked on several songs. " I'm like, 'How did you pick me up like that?' She didn't just push me aside. She picked me up and pushed me aside. I thought that was the f---ing funniest thing, and it went really viral, and I loved it."

See Warren's X post about Cher above.

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