Why Charlie Sheen Was Fired From Two And A Half Men

There was a time when actor Charlie Sheen seemed unstoppable. His CBS sitcom, "Two and a Half Men," was so wildly popular that it allowed him to become the highest-paid actor on television when he signed a contract in 2010 for two more seasons of the show at $1.78 million per episode. He had dealt with some personal demons and emerged from rehab seemingly all the stronger, ready to earn a tremendous amount of money and make America laugh alongside co-stars Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones. Better yet, he got to have a good bit of fun embellishing his own semi-rock star status by playing a character named Charlie who was clearly inspired by Sheen himself. Unfortunately, he fell from these great heights with incredible speed when he was fired from "Two and a Half Men" effective immediately in March of 2011.

Sheen's fall from grace was extremely public, as he aired his grievances with CBS, series creator Chuck Lorre, and even his co-stars with just about anyone who would listen in wild interviews that quickly became the stuff of meme legend. (Seriously, you couldn't turn around in a mall in 2011 without finding "Tiger Blood" merch.) He would even claim that Lorre's other shows, like "The Big Bang Theory," were only popular because of the precedent he set with "Two and a Half Men." Let's take a deeper look at this very messy and very public meltdown and the fallout, because it's become the stuff of celebrity legend. Plenty of TV stars leave their hit shows, but few do it so explosively.

As Charlie Harper on "Two and a Half Men," Sheen got to play a ladies' man with a big personality, but his behind-the-scenes antics proved to be more than the rest of the cast and crew could handle. Things started to get rocky early on when Sheen went through an ugly divorce with Denise Richards, who alleged that Sheen was physically and verbally abusive, but it all escalated on Christmas of 2009 when Sheen was arrested in a domestic violence dispute with his then-wife Brooke Mueller. This would spark the first of three stints in rehab, and the final one, in January 2011, forced production of "Two and a Half Men" to shut down. 

Sheen and Lorre were reportedly at odds, and when Sheen was fired, he said some awful things about the show and Lorre, telling TMZ: "This is very good news [...] now I can take all of the bazillions, never have to look at whatshisc–-k again and I never have to put on those silly shirts for as long as this warlock exists in the terrestrial dimension."

Sheen wasn't the only one who was apparently unhappy with working conditions on the series, as co-star Angus T. Jones, who played Charlie's nephew, Jake, also left "Two and a Half Men" under less-than-great circumstances. In general, it sounds like the show was a pretty troubled production led by some deeply troubled stars, and it all eventually just boiled over. 

After Sheen was fired from "Two and a Half Men," he was replaced by "That 70's Show" star Ashton Kutcher. Sheen's character was killed off and given a funeral episode, but Kutcher's wealthy Walden Schmidt bought Charlie's beach house and let Jake and his father/Charlie's brother Alan (Jon Cryer) continue to live there along with him. After two Sheen-less seasons, Jones also left, leaving just Cryer and Kutcher to try and maintain the show's comedic chemistry. It ran for two more seasons before ending in 2015. 

Sheen would go on to star in the FX series "Anger Management," loosely based on the Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler film of the same name, for three seasons from 2012-2014. (An actor who clearly has anger issues starring as someone with anger issues is... a choice.) 

His most recent turn on television is, surprisingly, in the HBO Chuck Lorre-created comedy "Bookie," playing himself. Things seemed to have mellowed out a bit for the old warlock, and he and Lorre have seemingly mended their relationship. Hopefully, then, Sheen continues to keep his problems in-character and onscreen instead of making them everyone's else's to deal with.