The notorious Charlie Sheen . The man who made "Two And A Half Men" the great show that
it was.
He made such a massive impact on the show as his character, "Charlie" that when producers
made an attempt to replace the actor with Ashton Kutcher, the show ended up completely
tanking and fans were furious.
On the other hand, when it comes to his ex-wife, Denise Richards , she was more than happy
to do without him.
Charlie seemed to be his own worst enemy, and their marriage resulted in a disastrous
custody battle featuring a Twitter war, followed by a shocking confession that made fans drop
their jaws.
It seems as though the actor's dark secret was the one thing that brought the exes closer
together years after the divorce.
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Before we get into what happened between Charlie and Denise, we should probably get into some
of the actor's dark history.
At the height of his fame, the actor was being paid $1.25m for every episode of "Two And
A Half Men.
" Unfortunately, it all came to an end when he was fired from the show after a downward
spiral in his personal life that played out in public.
However, Sheen was no stranger to making tabloid news for his shocking behavior.
During the 1990s, the actor's partying lifestyle and bad-boy behavior had led to several stints
in rehab.
He was also arrested and put in a hospital for cocaine use.
The actor later admitted to spending nearly $50,000 at a brothel during one of his binges.
By the late 90s, Sheen was faced with misdemeanor battery charges against his former girlfriend,
Brittany Ashland.
He was given a year's suspended sentence and two years' probation.
Less than a year later, he was taken to hospital again following a near-fatal overdose and
was ordered back to rehab.
The actor knew that if he continued going down the self-destructive path, that it would
probably cost him his life.
So, he made a choice to clean up his act and focus on his sobriety.
Thankfully, he had mended his ways for long enough to be cast as Michael J Fox's replacement
on the hit sitcom "Spin City."
If it wasn't for his decision to change his life, the actor would have never fallen in
love with Denise Richards.
Charlie and Denise met in 2000 while filming "Good Advice."
But it wasn't one of those love-at-first-sight moments when the actors fall in love on set.
It wasn't until Denise guest-starred on "Spin City" a year later that Charlie took notice
of her, and sparks began to fly.
Soon, the sparks of attraction turned into fireworks, and the couple started dating.
Denise was so charmed by the actor, that she knew he was "the one" by their second date.
The couple was so smitten with each other that they were engaged before the year came
to an end.
"I fell in love with who he was when I met him: a strong man who could admit his weaknesses
and work through them," Denise confessed.
The pair said "I do" the following year in 2002.
It's safe to say that the world was very surprised to see that Charlie, renowned for his bad-boy
reputation, seemed to have hung his womanizing hat for good.
Everything seemed perfect; the couple starred alongside one another in "Scary Movie 3,"
and Denise gave birth to their first daughter together, Sam.
The actress even appeared on Two and a Half Men as Charlie's ex who comes back into his
life in multiple episodes.
Sadly, as it seems to go in the world of Hollywood, just as things appear to be going perfectly
well … it all comes crashing down.
While Denise was six months pregnant with their second child in 2005, she filed for
divorce.
The couple released in a statement, "We are deeply saddened by the recent events and out
of our love and concern for our daughter Sam, our unborn child and each other, we ask that
you respect our privacy during this difficult time,"
After Denise gave birth to their second daughter in the middle of the summer and mid-divorce.
For a moment, it seemed as though the couple had briefly reconciled, but that didn't last
very long.
In the court documents, it was alleged that Denise accused Charlie of prescription medication
abuse, violent mood swings, compulsive gambling, and the use of pornography.
Charlie attempted to brush the claims off as "baseless" and "vile."
During a bitter custody dispute later that year, she claimed that he had physically and
verbally abused and threatened to kill her.
Denise felt like she had no choice, but to get a restraining order against him.
By 2006, Denise and Charlie continued with divorce proceedings, and the papers were signed.
The couple was officially divorced.
"We've actually become like brother and sister, we really have.
Nothing more than that.
We've become very, very good friends."
Denise shared in a statement.
When asked if there was any possibility for the couple to make amends and get back together,
the actress comically replied, "Oh, he likes 20-year-olds, I'm past his age range!"
By 2008, Sheen moved on to marry the actress Brooke Mueller (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Asb6HnD-EuQ
- 0.04), and she soon gave birth to twin boys.
Unfortunately, it wasn't smooth sailing for Charlie and Brooke either.
Just a year into their marriage, the actor was arrested and charged with assaulting and
threatening to kill her.
They were divorced by 2011.
Two months after the assault charges, he entered rehab again, forcing him to take a three-month
break from Two and a Half Men.
It wasn't much later that Charlie hinted that he was prepared to leave the show if his request
for more money from programme-makers Warner Bros was not met.
It seemed as though Sheen had gone back to his old ways and his destructive behavior
had returned.
The actor was hospitalized yet again for medical reasons after security was called to his hotel
room, where he was found naked and appeared completely intoxicated.
Just a few months later, Charlie was taken out of his Los Angeles home on a stretcher
and hospitalized with "severe abdominal pains."
It was alleged that the pain was a result of a two-day "marathon party."
The next day, Warner Bros executives ordered Sheen to seek treatment and temporarily shut
down production on "Two And A Half Men" so he could enter rehab.
However, the actor refused.
In an interview, the actor said that he didn't need to go to rehab because the Alcoholics
Anonymous manual was, quote, "written for normal people, people that aren't special,
people that don't have tiger blood, you know, Adonis DNA."
Within two weeks, the actor said he was ready to begin shooting again after self-healing
his addictions.
But production was canceled after Sheen phoned into a US radio show to criticize the show's
creator, Chuck Lorre.
In a rambling rant, he made a series of bizarre statements, including calling himself a "high
priest" and a "Vatican assassin-warlock."
He continued his attack on Lorre in numerous talk show appearances over the space of a
week.
"I am on a drug, it's called Charlie Sheen," he told ABC's 20/20 program.
"It's not available because if you try it, you will die.
Your face will melt off and your children will weep over your exploded body."
For Warner Bros, this was the last straw.
The studio's lawyers shared, "the totality of Mr Sheen's condition, statements and escalating
destructive behaviour" made production "untenable."
It was "clear," they continued, that the actor "does not believe he has a problem and that
he will continue to conduct himself in a destructive manner."
CBS announced later that year that Ashton Kutcher would take over as the star of the
show.
However, Sheen's future remained uncertain after the actor seemed to be going through
a form of breakdown, played out in public on the TV and the internet.
He gave interviews and posted videos of himself on YouTube and Twitter, claiming to be a "warlock"
with "tiger blood" and "Adonis DNA."
By 2015, Charlie decided to take to Twitter on fathers day and rant his heart out.
Sheen called his ex-wife, Richards, the "worst mom alive" and an "evil terrorist sack of
landfill rash" who "couldn't act hot in a fire or wet in a pool."
Afterward, the actress retweeted a Leeza Gibbons quote reading, "The less you respond to negative
people, the more peaceful your life will become."
What the actor had to share next, had the rest of the world completely shocked.
In an exclusive, live sit-down interview on The Today Show, the actor admitted that he
had been living with HIV.
"I'm here to admit that I am, in fact, HIV positive.
I have to put a stop to this onslaught, this barrage of attacks, of sub-truths, and very
harmful stories that are about threatening the health of so many others, which couldn't
be farther from the truth."
Charlie kept his HIV diagnosis private for about four years before deciding to share
it with the world.
"It's a hard three letters to absorb.
It's a turning point in one's life," The actor confessed.
It seemed as though Charlie's confession was a step in the right direction for him.
He had cleaned up his act, and his sobriety was back on the right track.
After his announcement, Denise made sure she was always nearby to support Charlie.
"I moved in the neighborhood where he was living, and being that close to him, it was
very hard," she said at the time, "But anytime that something would go on at the house or
with him, he knew he could call me at 2 in the morning and I would be there—no matter
what."
She also confessed that she knew that people would judge her for supporting him, but she
wanted to make sure that he was taken care of so that he could be a good father for their
daughters.
By 2018, Denise had moved on and married Aaron Phypers . During an episode of The Real Housewives
of Beverly Hills, she admitted that Charlie had been invited to the wedding but had refused
to attend.
"Even if he did bring a prostitute as his date, I wouldn't care.
It's just, it is what it is.
No matter what's gone down with Charlie and I, I invite Charlie to anything having to
do with the kids and I."
However, Charlie sent her well wishes through one of his reps, "[He] wishes them nothing
but happiness!"
Over the last few years, the two have continued a rocky co-parenting relationship.
But things appeared to be all good as of last year when she revealed that "Communication's
great with him.
My husband, Aaron and I actually saw him the other day."