Disturbing Truths We've Learned About Charlie Sheen
Charlie Sheen made a show of "#winning" in 2011, but we've since learned that the erstwhile Two and a Half Men star was going through a breakdown. In November 2015, the actor revealed that he was HIV positive and had been diagnosed four years prior.
"I'm here to admit that I am in fact HIV-positive and I have to put a stop to this onslaught, this barrage of attacks and of sub-truths and very harmful stories that I am threatening the health of others, which couldn't be farther from the truth," Sheen said on the Today show (via People). When asked why he still engaged in risky behaviors, such as paying for sex and abusing substances, he explained, "I was so depressed by the condition I was in, I was doing too many drugs, I was drinking too much."
That's just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the dark, sad state Sheen's life had become. There is nothing to be ashamed of in terms of being HIV-positive. However, in context, the revelation makes Sheen's lifestyle and decisions throughout his career and personal life look much less like a brash, confident Hollywood bad boy and much more like a broken man trying to numb the pain of his reality. Let's take a closer look.
His drug use was out of control
Sheen has talked openly about his abuse of illegal drugs throughout the years, but in January 2011, he was hit with a rude awakening in the form of what some sources claimed was an overdose.
A source told TMZ that though Sheen claimed to have been hospitalized for a hernia, it was actually a cocaine overdose that landed him in an emergency room. The insider claimed Sheen had an entire briefcase of the drug delivered to his home while he partied with porn stars.
In October 2010, the New York Post reported that Sheen was hospitalized after an alleged drug binge that involved him wrecking a hotel room and leaving a screaming woman in a closet.
In 1998, Sheen went to rehab after an alleged cocaine overdose, the New York Post reported. And those are just a few of the incidents that were eventually made public.
His 'tiger blood' was really something else
Sheen revealed on Good Morning America in January 2017 that his "tiger blood" phase was due to ... wait for it ... testosterone cream. "I was doing way too much testosterone cream, trying to keep the libido up. It metabolizes into basically a roid rage," he said.
Referring to himself in the third person, Sheen also said that side of him still exists. "He has to, because I think ultimately in our blueprint, in our DNA, I believe that we are the sum total of all of our experiences, good and bad. But they don't lead the charge."
He was suicidal
Sheen admitted that when he was first diagnosed with HIV, he didn't take the news well. The actor told Good Morning America, "The day I was diagnosed, I immediately wanted to eat a bullet, but my mom was there. I wouldn't do that in front of her, or let her find me to clean up that mess."
He added, "But then, something else came over me. They gave me a handful of pills and said, 'You can go home now, and you're going to live.' If I was there with, you know, brain cancer or, or, a stomach thing, or some meningitis, we wouldn't be sitting here right now."
He was accused of hiding his HIV status from partners
After Sheen revealed his HIV status, he was accused of hiding his diagnosis from several sexual partners.
In November 2015, just after Sheen' revealed that he was HIV positive, his former "goddess," Bree Olson, blasted him on Inside Edition, claiming they had engaged in unprotected sex. "I could be dead right now," she said. "I could literally be dead right now because he did not tell me that ... Charlie, you're a horrible person."
In December 2015, People reported that Sheen's ex-fiancée, Scottine Ross (formerly known as Brett Rossi,) sued him, alleging that he engaged in unprotected sex with her without revealing his diagnosis and that he was violent and forced her to get an abortion during their relationship. After she allegedly discovered his HIV medication, Ross claimed Sheen promised to give her $1 million but reneged on signing the settlement after he revealed his diagnosis to the world. Sheen's attorney denied those claims.
In June 2017, a Jane Doe sued the actor for allegedly hiding his diagnosis from her until after they'd had unprotected sex, reported People.
He claims he's being extorted
Sheen claimed that the reason he kept his diagnosis quiet from some of his sexual partners is because he believed he was being extorted by some of the partners he had informed of his status. He also insisted that he never had unprotected sex with anyone who was not informed of his HIV status.
"The only times I didn't tell them, was because the last 25 times they used it against me, and used my medical condition for their own folly, and financial gain," Sheen told Piers Morgan at an event in June 2016 (via Radar Online). "I never did [have unprotected sex after being diagnosed]. I wouldn't do that to someone ... no one has been infected by me." Sheen claimed on the Today show (via People) that he'd paid a total of nearly $10 million in various settlements before revealing his HIV diagnosis.
An insider told Radar Online that stopping the settlements to partners who knew he had HIV may have caused more legal headaches for the actor. "At this point, Sheen doesn't care if a woman came forward [about his HIV]. But his deepest and darkest secrets rest with the lovers he doesn't ever want to go public," the source alleged. "Since he's stopped paying, Charlie and his lawyers have been forced back into mediation sessions ... Those who made claims against him are desperately attempting to have the payments reinstated."
He was subjected to questionable medicine
In February 2016, Sheen renounced Dr. Sam Chachoua, a Mexican-based physician who claimed he "cured" Sheen of HIV.
"He would have [medications] delivered at all hours of the night, and I was an idiot to keep taking it. It was just the BS started to really pile up with this guy," Sheen told Dr. Oz (via People). "I was in Mexico probably for 32 hours. He says I was there for two months, so his math skills are equally as challenged as his science. I don't think I was dying. It's very bizarre, his memory of our initial time together ... I couldn't keep track of this guy. He didn't really have an office I could go to." Sheen added, "I am not cured."
Chachoua claimed that he injected Sheen's blood into his own body to demonstrate how confidant he was in his controversial treatment methods. Sheen has said he never actually saw Chachoua do so. "Thinking back on it, his back was to me. And he might have switched the needle..."
Did he abuse a child actor?
In November 2017, the National Enquirer reported that Sheen allegedly raped the late Corey Haim on the set of Lucas (1986) when Haim was 13 and Sheen was 19.
Actor Dominic Brascia alleged, "[Haim] told me they smoked pot and had sex ... Haim said after it happened Sheen became very cold and rejected him. When Corey wanted to fool around again, Charlie was not interested." Brascia added that years later, Haim allegedly told him they'd hooked up again, but Haim decided Sheen was a "loser" and was over him for good.
Sheen adamantly denied those claim to People, and Haim's own mother denied the allegations against Sheen to Dr. Oz. Sheen sued the National Enquirer, telling TMZ in a statement: "In my nearly 35 years as a celebrated entertainer, I have been nothing shy of a forthright, noble and valiant courier of the truth. Consistently admitting and owning a laundry list of shortcomings, wrongdoings and indiscretions this traveler hath traveled — however, every man has a breaking point ... These radically groundless and unfounded allegations end now. I now take a passionate stand against those who wish to even entertain the sick and twisted lies against me. GAME OVER."
He can't pay his child support
In 2016, Sheen reportedly requested that his $55,000 monthly child support payments to ex-wives Denise Richards (pictured above) and Brooke Mueller be drastically reduced because the actor's income had decreased since the end of his run on Two and a Half Men.
In court documents obtained by People, Sheen detailed his income dropping from more than $600,000 a month to about $87,000 monthly. Sheen reportedly requested to cut his payments to his exes to $10,000 each per month.
In April 2016, People reported that Mueller filed court documents claiming Sheen owed her $89,000 in back child support. Earlier that year, People reported that Richards had sued Sheen for $1.2 million for allegedly evicting her and their kids from a home he purchased for them and for allegedly sending threatening text messages.
Sheen talked about his child support arrangements with Dr. Oz (via People): "We came up with a number a long time ago and I had a great job and everybody was living large and that's not the case right now, but there's still that expectation to still keep paying this kind of money. At some point you just can't justify it, especially when there's no gratitude behind it. None. I would send somebody flowers every hour if I got that kind of dough tax free."
He's going broke
It's not just child support payments and settlements that Sheen is having trouble paying — it's also other bills.
Radar Online reported that American Express sued the actor for nearly $300,000 in unpaid bills and fees in May 2016. In July 2016, the National Enquirer (via Radar Online) reported that Sheen may be audited by the IRS for as much as $7 million in back taxes and alleged that his production company may have spent $1.7 million on sex workers. Sheen was reported to be nearly $13 million in debt at the time.
Radar Online reported that Sheen was making appearances at conventions and selling off his possessions, including a $2 million Babe Ruth memorabilia collection, in order to climb his way out of the red.
He may have gotten violent at the dentist's office
In May 2016, three dental office employees sued Sheen for allegedly threatening and assaulting them in 2014. In court documents obtained by Radar Online, the employees claimed: "After first being placed in the dental chair ... Sheen ripped off the [nitrous oxide] mask, jumped out of the dental chair, and began yelling verbal obscenities and threats ... Sheen again acted out without warning or provocation, and physically assaulted and battered the assistant, who ran screaming into the reception area ... and then began verbally threatening to kill [Dr. George] Bogen and [Bogen's assistant] Azdair, and the dental assistant, ultimately lunging at Bogen and Azdair with a knife, attempting to stab and kill them, and repeatedly stabbing the examination chair in a menacing manner." The third plaintiff was a receptionist on duty at the time.
A fifth employee sued Sheen over the incident in October 2014, Radar Online reported, but dropped the claim amid rumors that they had settled out of court.
He was accused of viewing inappropriate images of children
In her 2005 divorce filing from Sheen, Richards claimed the Platoon star viewed inappropriate images of boys and girls, reported Radar Online. In the filing, Richards said: "I told him as a mother, I found this information very disturbing because we had two young daughters and that I believed he had a serious problem which he needed to deal with and that he should not be around our children. He reiterated that there was nothing wrong with the sites that he was accessing and that I needed to 'turn my head' and ignore it."
Sheen denied any wrongdoing and claimed the FBI examined his computers and did not pursue a case against him.
He has a long history of violence against women
In 1989, Sheen's then-fiancée, Kelly Preston, was supposedly injured while picking up a pair of Sheen's pants from the bathroom floor. According to Sheen (via E! News), his pistol "fell out of the back jeans pocket and hit the floor and shot a bullet right between her legs, so she got hit with shrapnel from the toilet bowl."
According to the Daily Beast, a UCLA student sued Sheen in 1994, alleging that he hit her in the head when she refused to have sex with him.
In 1997, a woman named Brittany Ashland sued Sheen, alleging that he beat her and slammed her head on the marble floor of his mansion, knocking her unconscious and requiring her to get seven stitches in her lip. According to CBS News, police investigated the incident and charged Sheen with criminal misdemeanor battery with serious injury. Sheen pleaded no contest and received a suspended prison term of one year as well as probation.
In 2006, Richards — who was estranged from Sheen at the time — claimed in court documents obtained by TMZ that Sheen had threatened to kill her.
In December 2009, CNN reported that then-wife Mueller (pictured above) called 911, screaming that Sheen had tried to strangle her and held a knife to her throat. Sheen was arrested. Less than two years later, in March 2011, the Los Angeles Times reported that Sheen allegedly threatened to kill Mueller, prompting her to get a protective order against him.
In 2016, the Los Angeles Times reported that Sheen allegedly claimed he'd rather pay $20,000 to kick former fiancée Ross in the head than to pay her a legal settlement — a claim Sheen's legal team denied.