Warner Bros. airs its dirty laundry on Charlie Sheen

In its letter dismissing Charlie Sheen from the CBS show "Two and a Half Men," lawyers for Warner Bros. dumped out the company's basket of dirty laundry on the actor.

Sheen "has been engaged in dangerously self-destructive conduct and appears to be very ill," the letter from the firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP to attorney Marty Singer said. Sheen's condition "undermined the production in numerous and significant ways" and ultimately left Warner Bros., the producers of the hit sitcom, no choice but to pull the plug on the show and subsequently on himself.

"Warner Bros. would not, could not, and should not attempt to continue `business as usual' while Mr. Sheen destroys himself as the world watches," the letter said.

Sheen's camp leaked the letter to Singer to the gossip site TMZ, and its contents were subsequently confirmed by people familiar with the matter. Sheen told the site that his firing was good news.

The letter firing Sheen is the latest back-and-forth between the actor and Warner Bros., CBS and Chuck Lorre, the co-creator and executive producer of "Two and a Half Men." Production on the show was suspended for four episodes in January so Sheen could go to a rehabilitation facility after a series of incidents that included hospital trips and run-ins with the law. Sheen opted to be treated at home and soon declared himself ready to return to work.

Warner Bros., CBS and Lorre weren't buying Sheen's miracle cure and after the actor went on a media tour trashing all three, production for the entire season was suspended.

Sheen and his legal team have argued that Warner Bros. is in breach of his contract for ending production of this season, but the lawyers for Warner Bros. counter that it is the actor who has overstepped his bounds, not the studio.

Sheen's "self-destructive conduct resulted in his hospitalization, his inability to work at all for a period and the rapid erosion of the cooperative and creative process necessary to produce the show," the studio's lawyers said. Sheen is described as missing rehersals and not being prepared for filming. The letter goes on to say that Sheen's admitted drug use and "furnishing of cocaine" to others puts him in violation of his contract. "There is ample evidence supporting Warner Bros. reasonable good faith opinion that Mr. Sheen has committed felony offenses involving moral turpitude ... that have interfered with his ability to fully and completely render all material services required" under his contract.

Interestingly, the letter acknowledges that Warner Bros., CBS and Lorre were previously willing to overlook Sheen's various issues with the law and substance abuse to keep the show going.

"While it was not anywhere close to an ideal working situation, Warner Bros. and CBS as well as Mr. Lorre continued to make accommodations for the off-camera (yet very public) aspects of Mr. Sheen's life," the letter said, adding "at each step, Warner Bros. CBS and Mr. Lorre expressed their wholehearted support for Mr. Sheen and concern for his health and well-being."

That may give fuel to critics who say that Sheen's bosses were willing to look the other way when he got into legal scrapes and was accused of violence toward women including his wives, but got tough when he started trashing them.

Sheen's lawyer Marty Singer said Warner Bros. claims are without merit and that he expects to file a suit against the studio later this week.

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-- Joe Flint

Photo: Charlie Sheen. Credit: Mario Anzuoni/Reuters.

For the record: This post was updated to include comment from Sheen's lawyer Martin Singer.

Comments

[Timelimit]

The viewers already knew about this dirty laundry, as it has been in the news for years. They fired Charlie because he insulted the producer.

[Reg McGratten]

Please save 2 1/2 men...hire a new actor...go on a nation wide talent search and get someone to play the role...Jon Cryer is the real star of the show...Charlie is not hard to replace.

[Chris87654]

True, producers looked the other way for a while, but Charlie has been "on afterburners" for the past week - one might even say it would be risky working with him (violence) because you can't be sure what might happen next - the self-control part of his brain is not working.

Maybe they'll get a replacement - it would be hard, but not impossible. Toughest thing would be getting someone who didn't really have to act much - Charlie Harper wasn't much of a stretch for Charlie Sheen.

[jwatts1980]

Well come on... people can only take so much. They were continually giving him chances, and as long as he respected their efforts and continued to bring in the viewers, they were cool with him. But after taking his crap and THEN he starts bashing them... that's the end of the road. I completely agree with their timing.

[michael powell]

I am extremely upset that Charlie Sheen has been fired from two and a half men. He is the show. I have watched it from the beginning. I will no longer watch CBS shows. All my friends on facebook will be with me on this campaign to boycott CBS.

[Mel]

the show can not go on without him - they are all a perfect cast together. He can't be replaced, that's silly. The show is based on his life. The show wouldn't be what it is without him player that character/a watered down PC version of himself. The show's over without him. It was a good run...but replacing Charlie would be like replacing NORM, CLIFF or SAM on Cheers- just can't do it; America would never accept it.

[dcook98]

Charlie Sheen, as an actor, has no real range, so replacing him with any good looking guy would probably work. The real stars of the show are the writers. Replace Charlie and save the show for us viewers and the rest of the cast and crew.

[Summer]

I would love to see Robert Downey, Jr. added to the show. I think he would be the only one who could replace Sheen without missing a beat and creating a whole new character that is NOT Charlie but someone new.

[Natalie Whelpdale]

As wierd and crazy as Charlie Sheens is he makes the show and cannot be replaced. I will not be watching the show if it is made with another lead actor.

[John & Charlotte]

We both enjoyed watching 2 and 1/2 men however we was tired of Charlie Sheen. The man needs to grow up. He also needs a lot of help. We are not sure if another actor can replace him and the show survive but we both completely agree with CBS firing him.

[Sally]

Warner Bros. airing THEIR dirty laundry? What has Sheen been doing? The real star of that show is Jon Cryer. Any one of a number of talented actors could bring life to that role. Charlie has skated on everything he has ever done, including beating up (and shooting women), being an out of control drug addict and thinking it is ok for hookers and porn stars to be around his children. Good riddance.

[Reta]

Perhaps he'll learn a lesson in humility....he received 1.9 million per episode and the rest of us wonder why....no one else in real life could ever get away with domestic violence, threats and bullying, so why should he?

[Joe B.]

No one here needs to defend Warner Bros. TV, but it happens to be quite difficult to fire someone for things in which the studio is not involved. Certainly the most grievous of the charges was Christmas 2009 with the knife threat on Brooke Mueller but exactly what legal basis does Warners have for taking action at that time?

It seems to me the only thing that's actionable is his behavior and performance on set and what he says about the people he works with in the public space.

If I'm wrong, tell me. Maybe I'll ask Jonathan Handel.

[BlueBell]

Has anyone seen Rachel since she returned to Charlie's home? Did he hurt her during his broken-fang rant? Is Rachel OK?

[Ironman Carmichael]

If Warner Bros. had any class, they'd refrain from comment. The situation speaks for itself--shrieks for itself.

[Bob]

Sheen is sick. He's an addict. His life is in serious danger. Unfortunately, what he has is a brain disease, and the diseased organ is the one that's running, and ruining, his life.

[Mark]

Sheen is a freakin' maniac. WB should have fired his behind long ago.

[A reader]

Spoiled rich kid. Time to go. Not much of an actor anyway. Bye Charlie. If you had half the talent and class of you dad maybe things would have turned out different.

[George Soros]

Charlie Sheen...

LOSING!

[UnGalan]

How much coke did charlie do? Enough to kill two and a half men!

[Frank]

"Are you an assassin?"

"I'm a soldier."

"You're neither. You're an errand boy, sent by grocery clerks... to collect a bill."

[bdflatlander]

Charlie Sheen has completely fried his brain with all of the booze and drugs that he has ingested over the years. One can kill only so many brain cells before your brain can't function normally any more.

I used to watch 2 1/2 Men but so many of the story lines were the same -- Charlie and his bimbos. I like and respect Jon Cryer and thought he did a wonderful acting job. While I don't know Mr. Cryer personally, he does seem like a decent guy.

I would be interested to see if CBS and Warner Bros. can replace Charlie and continue the show but I doubt it. After viewers watch the first few of the post-Charlie episodes out of curiosity, I predict that viewership will drop off dramatically. Even though Sheen is a self-destructive moron in real life, he is central to the success of the show, sorry to say.

[trencherman 49]

This guy has had more chances than Steve Howe!

[Robert]

"I'd be drinking away, doing blow [cocaine], popping pills, and telling myself I wasn't an addict, because there wasn't a needle stuck in my arm. Talk about mixing up fantasy and reality!" - Charlie Sheen describing the filming of "Wall Street"

[Robert]

Michael J. Fox couldn't be replaced on Spin City, either. But he was. By Charlie Sheen.