Why You Rarely Hear From Charlie Sheen Anymore
Charlie Sheen was one of the most popular actors in Hollywood in the '90s and early 2000s. He seemed to be on top of the world, landing leading roles in "The Rookie" in 1990 and the insanely popular "Two and a Half Men" from 2003 to 2011. During the final season of the show, Sheen was bringing in an astounding $1.8 per episode, making him the highest-paid TV actor at the time.
Then in 2011, the star's struggles with substance abuse, legal issues, his personal relationships, and mental health caught up with him. His fall from grace shocked the world as he had a very public, very messy breakdown that seems to have irreparably damaged his image and career. While many people might assume that Sheen isn't in new movies and shows due to his erratic behavior in 2011, there's much more to it than that. Keep reading to learn all the details about why you hardly hear from the once-famous actor.
He struggled with drug, alcohol, and sex addiction
Sheen's addictions took a huge toll on his career. His drug and alcohol abuse led to a plethora of unsettling incidents over the years, from a freak accident that resulted in his fiancée Kelly Preston getting shot in the arm in 1990 to being hospitalized due to cocaine overdose in 1998. He also seemed to struggle with sex and porn addiction. During an interview in 2013, Dr. Oz asked him if he was a sex addict, and he replied, "Sure." In 1995, Sheen admitted to spending approximately $50,000 on sex workers through Hollywood Madam Heidi Fleiss. In divorce papers filed by his ex-wife Denise Richards in 2006, she hinted that he had a porn addiction, saying she discovered he had accessed "disturbing" porn websites that "promoted very young girls who looked underage" and "gay pornography also involving very young men who also did not look like adults." Jon Cryer, Sheen's co-star on "Two and a Half Men," revealed in his 2015 memoir "So That Happened" that he once helped Sheen hide a bag from Richards that "was filled to the brim with porn."
Sheen's substance abuse issues reportedly got worse during his divorce with Richards. Cryer, told Entertainment Weekly in 2020, "At first he could handle it, and he was still incredibly professional ... but you could just see that stuff was wearing on him."
The show went on hiatus in 2011 so Sheen could address his problems, but he refused to go to rehab and fired his sobriety coach. Later that year, he was fired from the show, with higher-ups saying he was "endangering his life" with his "dangerously self-destructive" behavior.
If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
He dealt with a lot of legal issues
Throughout his career, scandals and legal issues seem to follow Sheen wherever he goes. He was arrested for domestic violence in 2009, sued for allegedly choking and threatening to kill a porn actress in 2010, and sued for assault and sexual battery in 2014.
In 2020, Corey Feldman accused Sheen of sexually assaulting Corey Haim while making the movie "Lucas" in 1986. Sheen was 19 and Haim was 13 when they worked together on the film. Feldman made the claim in his documentary "(My) Truth: The Rape of Two Coreys."
Sheen was sued by two of his exes for not telling them he had HIV before they had unprotected sex. The first incident happened in 2015 when his former fiancée Scottine Ross claimed they had sex at least five times before she discovered he was HIV positive. In addition, she made claims of assault, battery, emotional distress, and false imprisonment against him, alleging that he even put an unloaded gun to her head and pulled the trigger. The second incident happened in 2017 when one of his ex-girlfriends (who chose to stay anonymous) accused him of exposing her to HIV, then dissuading her from taking medicine to prevent transmission of the virus. Sheen's ex-girlfriend Bree Olsen also spoke out against him to "Inside Edition" for similar reasons in 2015, but didn't press charges.
If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.
There were many problems in his personal life
We briefly touched on some of the issues in Sheen's personal life earlier, but those incidents were only the tip of the iceberg. He had many other problems in his personal life that negatively impacted his image, and as a result, his career. In 1996, he was arrested for allegedly beating Brittany Ashland, his girlfriend at the time. She claimed he slammed her head onto the floor of his home and threatened to kill her if she told anyone about it.
In 2006, his ex-wife Denise Richards filed for a restraining order against him. Aside from his substance abuse problems, she accused him of paying women for sex, abusive behavior, threatening to kill their dogs, and even threatening to kill her in front of their two kids. In 2009, Sheen was arrested for domestic violence after Brooke Mueller, his wife at the time, claimed he assaulted her and held a knife to her throat. Mueller ended up getting an emergency restraining order against him in 2011, claiming that he threatened to cut off her head and send it to her mother.
During a 2016 interview with Piers Morgan, Sheen admitted to having sex with 25 people without telling them he had HIV. He insisted that he didn't have unprotected sex with them, but many fans had their doubts about the truth of his claims.
He had a bizarre public meltdown
In 2016, Sheen told Dr. Oz he had bipolar disorder and was not taking any medication for it. Sheen's struggles with mental health, addiction, and his personal relationships led to a bizarre public breakdown in 2011 that his image never fully recovered from.
"I am on a drug. It's called Charlie Sheen," he said on "20/20" (via E! News). "It's not available because if you try it once, you will die. Your face will melt off and your children will weep over your exploded body. It's too much."
On the "Today" show, he said, "I'm tired of pretending I'm not special. I'm tired of pretending I'm not a total b**chin' rock star from Mars."
He also wrote a statement about being booted from "Two and a Half Men," telling TMZ, "This is very good news. They continue to be in breach, like so many whales. It is a big day of gladness at the Sober Valley Lodge because now I can take all of the bazillions, never have to look at [them] again and I never have to put on those silly shirts for as long as this warlock exists in the terrestrial dimension."
On top of all that, he said he had "tiger blood," "Adonis DNA," and was "winning," which have become some of his most memorable quotes. In 2021, he told Yahoo! Entertainment that he now regrets his behavior, saying, "I think the growth for me post-meltdown ... has to start with absolute ownership of my role in all of it. And it was desperately juvenile."
If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.
He burned bridges with the producers of Two and a Half Men
Sheen's struggle with addiction wasn't the only reason he was kicked off "Two and a Half Men." After the show went on hiatus in 2011 so he could go to rehab, he went on several tirades against the show's co-creator and producer Chuck Lorre. During an interview with Alex Jones, he called Lorre a "turd," a "clown," and a "charlatan." He followed that up with an interview with TMZ, saying that Lorre was "a stupid, stupid little man and a p***y punk that I'd never want to be like. That's me being polite." During these interviews, he only referred to Lorre as "Chaim Levine" because Lorre was born Charles Levine and Chaim would be the Hebrew version of his name. TV executives at Warner Brothers and CBS found this anti-Semitic, and it was around this time that they fired Sheen and cancelled the rest of the season.
Sheen was definitely not happy about that, responding with this angry statement given to TMZ: "What does this say about Haim Levine [Chuck Lorre] after he tried to use his words to judge and attempt to degrade me... I fire back once and this contaminated little maggot can't handle my power and can't handle the truth. I wish him nothing but pain in his silly travels especially if they wind up in my octagon. Clearly I have defeated this earthworm with my words — imagine what I would have done with my fire breathing fists."
Since getting fired from Two and a Half Men, it's been difficult for him to find work
Landing roles after such a messy public feud and meltdown was no easy task for Sheen. As a result, he was unable to continue paying child support for four of his five kids, which consisted of $20,000 a month to Richards and $55,000 a month to Mueller. In 2019, Richards filed a lawsuit against him for child support, during which he explained he had "been unable to find steady work" and had been "blacklisted from many aspects of the entertainment industry. All of this has resulted in a significant reduction in my earnings." He said he had less than $10 million left and was in a "dire financial crisis."
For years, he only made a handful of short TV appearances. Then in 2020, he joined Cameo, a service that allows fans to purchase personalized video messages from celebrities, and set his rate at a mere $300 per video. That same year, he sold his mansion for $6.6 million, which was significantly less than the asking price. He then moved in with his elderly mother and father, which a source told UnCrazed he only did to help care for them. In 2021, a source told OK! that "the actor is "broke and living week to week. He's considered 'dead' in Hollywood, and the only calls he gets are for brand endorsements and commercials."
His 2011 comedy tour got terrible reviews
A month after getting fired from "Two and a Half Men," Sheen went on a comedy tour called "My Violent Torpedo of Truth/Defeat Is Not an Option." Although it sold out in many cities and Sheen made $7 million, the hastily assembled show got terrible reviews. It was unorganized, Sheen's jokes weren't landing, and people could tell that the whole thing was an obvious cash grab. Most of Sheen's act was a nonsensical rant that seemed to confuse the audience more than making them laugh. The show also featured videos highlighting the actor's infamous interviews (which most of the people there had probably already seen) and unimpressive musical guests like Dirt Nasty.
In many venues, people heckled Sheen, booed him, and left early. The Detroit show went particularly badly, with the audience booing both the warm-up comedian Kurt Fox and Sheen. When one heckler demanded a refund, Sheen said, "I already got your money, dude." Yikes.
He had a feud with Selma Blair while working on Anger Management in 2013
The clash between Sheen and Lorre wouldn't be the actor's last public feud. While Sheen was working with Selma Blair on the series "Anger Management" in 2013, she complained to executives about Sheen's bad work ethic behind his back. When he found out, he was so furious that he told producers to fire Blair immediately or he'd leave the show. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sheen (who was also an executive producer on the show) went off on Blair over text, insulting her and telling her she was dismissed from the series.
Blair was noticeably absent from set the following Monday, then the next day, Lionsgate Television released a statement saying, "We are confirming that Selma Blair will not be returning to 'Anger Management' and we wish her the very best." They planned to write her out of the show and replace her with a new female role for the rest of production.
He was supposed to appear on Dancing with the Stars, but backed out at the last minute
In 2019, Sheen was supposed to be on Season 28 of "Dancing with the Stars" with dancer Cheryl Burke, but that never ended up happening. A week before the premiere, he had a sudden change of heart and walked away.
"I was very flattered by ABC and their offer, but at the end of the day, I have two left feet and I just can't dance," Sheen told Us Weekly.
The actor's appearance on the show was part of a larger deal at ABC, so when he backed out of the project, the bigger deal was scrapped. His publicist Jeff Ballard confirmed this with Us Weekly, saying that "ABC made a very generous offer" for a new series starring Sheen, but "it was contingent upon his participation on 'Dancing with the Stars.'"
Sheen was replaced by former professional football player Ray Lewis. The incident dealt another damaging blow to Sheen's career, showing executives that he still hadn't gotten his act together, even though it'd been years since the "Two and a Half Men" debacle.
Production companies would have to spend a fortune to insure him
Many stars have made comebacks after behaving in scandalous, erratic ways. Could Sheen have the next big comeback? Possibly, but he'd have some big hurdles to overcome due to his long history of substance abuse and behavioral problems.
James Robinson, the CEO of Morgan Creek Productions, told TMZ (via The Hollywood Reporter) in 2011 that he was reluctant to hire Sheen for an upcoming film. "I'm not going to risk putting Charlie in the movie if he continues messing up. If Charlie doesn't straighten up ... I unfortunately can't put him in the movie." He recalled his experience working with Lindsay Lohan back in her wild days. "When an actor doesn't show up for work, you can lose half-a-million dollars a day paying the 250 other people there for the shoot and the costs for the set."
If a production company was considering hiring Sheen, they would likely want to insure him so they wouldn't lose money if he didn't show up for work, which would be very expensive. According to The Hollywood reporter, in 2011, sometimes the stars' insurance plans include high deductibles ranging from $25,000 to $250,000, which would be about $34,000 to $339,000 in today's dollars. The cost of insuring an actor gets lower as they complete jobs without any incidents, so at this point in time, things aren't looking great for Sheen.