Forget, for a moment, the drugs, the porn stars, the endangered TV show. There’s something else going in the Charlie Sheen saga that was rather extraordinary: How stunningly, blatantly honest Sheen has been on the topic of being a celebrity.
Has any star ever so brazenly touted the advantage of his status? “I’m tired of pretending like I’m not special,” he’s said, while slamming others as jealous losers who “lay down with their ugly wives and their ugly children,” and who wish they could have Sheen’s money, his women, his fame, his lifestyle. “I’m gonna hang out with these two smoking hotties and fly privately around the world,” he said. “It might be lonely up here but I sure like the view.”
Hollywood stars never talk like this about being famous. It’s such a PR taboo to admit that as a celebrity, you may not be “just like us.” But isn’t this what we secretly suspect all stars think about themselves without ever actually saying it? I’m not pointing this out to praise Sheen, or to make his comments sound like a part of some brave strategy. His quotes are obnoxious and arrogant, and are caused by God knows what. But as an entertainment reporter, you listen to Sheen’s rants and think, “Well, at least he’s not reciting the same carefully crafted humility that we hear from everybody else.”
When you look at it this way, Sheen’s public explosion and implosion is like some high-concept movie, like Jim Carrey in Liar Liar or Warren Beatty in Bulworth. What happens when a major celebrity starts being radically honest about their feelings, no matter how ugly or damaging those thoughts might be? In Bulworth, instead of destroying the career of the politician played by Beatty, it made him even more popular. And the same is true here: Even compared to his big-screen Wall Street and Platoon days, Charlie Sheen has never been a bigger celebrity than he has been during the past week — for better or for worse. And if he does somehow get his head together and then work out his differences with CBS, Chuck Lorre, Warner Bros. and all the others that he’s managed to infuriate, next fall Two and a Half Men could see its biggest ratings ever. As things stand, the more likely outcome is that Sheen will continue to alienate his fans and the industry — the two groups whose acceptance and attention he so clearly craves.
Read more:
– Charlie, the Sheen is gone: No amount of rehab can repair his reputation
– Ken Tucker on Charlie Sheen’s 20/20 interview: “I hope he unplugs his brain and allows it to rest for a while.”
Throughout all of Sheen craziness he has steadfastly
declared he wants to go back to WORK?!
Media is wrapped up in Charlie Sheen he has a midas touch.
charlies teeth look like an ashtray … spend some of that disposable income on a dental hygiene goddess chuck
For the win!
If anyone is wondering what “Bulworth” is, I urge you to rent it. One of the best movies that no one talks about. It’s got a lot on its mind.
I’d forgotten about Bulworth until just now – AWESOME movie!!!!!
“Winning!”
Charlie Sheen will not be tweeting jack s-h-i-t or broadcasting from his home when he goes to jail for physically assaulting his latest wife…He won’t be calling or diddling the keypad when he’s in jail for his drug dealing or hiring prostitutes because no cell phones allowed in prison…And it’s pretty disgusting that any one person or business would support a drug dealing user alky who beats on women.
Oh Charlie Sheen, I’m far happier with my “ugly wife and ugly (future) children” than you will ever be. You sir, are the one living a sad, pathetic, lonely life and I pity you.
There is nothing sad and pathetic about money, fame and having access to hot women and I doubt, he’s ever lonely.
I’m with you. Happy, confident men don’t have to PAY hookers and porn stars, or ANY women to be with them.
love that you think your opinions matters
haha..you’re a loser…keep telling yourself that.
Charlie Sheen’s already lived a life a million times better than yours…
stop having children
Charlie Sheen is not having a better life than most people. He has to pay skanky porn performers and hookers for companionship. He needs drugs and alcohol in order to get through a day. If he didn’t have money he would be the guy living in a box under a bridge, begging for change on street corners.
Luis PJ,
do you not understand this is a board for people to post their opinion?
“There is nothing sad and pathetic about money, fame and having access to hot women and I doubt, he’s ever lonely.”
Well, Sierra, there may be “nothing sad about having money, fame and having access to hot women,” but there is something sad and pathetic in having to do cocaine, make out with porn stars and continually talk about how amazing you are to any media outlet sticking a camera in your face despite having money, fame and access to hot women who don’t have to make a living taking their clothes off.
Charlie needs helps. Him and his sycophants may be in denial, but the rest of us don’t need a Dr. Drew special to tell us something obvious. Hopefully, he’ll get it right and straighten out soon.
if you have to pay for compionship, you are lonely. you can be surrounded by people and still be lonely. the cure for loneliness is a true connection with others, a relationship. his life is artificial. i’d rather have a real life anyday.
@ Dicazzi:
Charlie Sheen has himself said that the reason he chooses to frequent high-priced call girls is because “I am paying them to GO AWAY” when the party is over.
Men who don’t want a relationship create a quid pro quo situation. They get what they want, without drama or questions…they compensate to woman for her cooperation and time.
You are right that there are a ton of women who might want to sleep with Charlie Sheen…but they also might want to stick their claws in him for his money and fame.
See why hookers make sense? Women have the real power anyway…
the factual proof that stars are actually self-absorbed is refreshing? mannnn we have a long way to go.
why does the media even careeeeeeeeeeeee.
Amen to that. I’m shocked that anyone sees any kind of upside to this. A sad piece of our population is impressed with horribly pathetic values
Sheen’s rants about how amazing he is are not refreshing. They are a sign of mental illness. Honestly, his rants on his superiority are just as nuts as the Unibomber’s manifesto.
Lois-I couldn’t agree more. His rants AREN’T refreshing, they are a clear sign of mania, whether drug-induced or from mental illness. The idea of glorifying his grandiose stream of consciousness is ridiculous! As a psych nurse I see this every day-even an unemployed sad sack thinks they’re special in the context of a brain disorder. I only hope others in his condition don’t start looking up to him as something to aspire to.
yeah but the thing about midas was that he also turned what was actually valuable, like his daughter, into gold… sheen is destroying his life with what he thinks is enjoyable. it’ll come back to him.
Agreed. You have written a seriously brilliant comment that says well my reaction to the weirdness of this blog. The idea that a star really is fundamentally different than other people because he has gobs of money or sleeps with two (pretty pathetic) women at the same time is twisted beyond belief. Even if the authors are not agreeing with this but just pointing out his “honesty” they are arguably as whacked out as he is. His “honesty” sounds – apart from the disgusing content – like psychotic or near-psychotic loss of reality contact and a desperate attempt to cover up the profound emptiness and loneliness he would feel if he weren’t losing himself in drugs and megalomania.
sheen’s life appears to be incredibly empty, despite the fame and wealth. bedding porn stars seems like such an empty existence and not the least bit impressive.
and i happen to like sheen, but he clearly needs to find his way.
What’s “refreshing” about a man with a problem with beating women and drug abuse? REFRESHING? Maybe ask the women he’s abused over the years about what’s so “refreshing” about his lack of a publicist.
Maybe, just maybe try proving he beats women before condemning him. All there has been so far is allegations no convictions. I sure dont see bree up there cowering in fear.
…yet.
Are you serious? In addition to all the other allegations against him, he settled one case in 1994, pled no contest in 96, and pled guilty in 2009. But please, do keep blaming his victims, there just isn’t enough of that going on in the world.
Maybe, just maybe, open your eyes…or use Google.
• 1990: Sheen accidentally shoots then-fiancée Kelly Preston in the arm.
• 1995: Two months after marrying model Donna Peele, Sheen was sued by a UCLA student who claimed he struck her in the head back in 1994 after she refused him sex.
• 1997: Sheen pleads no contest to battery charges brought by former girlfriend, model-actress Brittany Ashland, who claims Sheen threw her onto his kitchen floor and split her lip.
• 2009: Sheen is arrested on felony menacing charges and spends Christmas in a Colorado jail after wife Brooke Mueller tells cops the actor threatened her with a knife. He later pleads guilty to assault.
I think the point of the story is that as loathsome as Chuck Sheen is-we’re all sort of enjoying the fact that just once a celeb came out and said he’s got an awesome life and he’s enjoying going to he11 in a plane made of gold.
@Truthhurts… By your logic, I’m going to assume you still support OJ’s career as he was found “innocent” of double homicide.
And perhaps you let your young sons play with Michael Jackson 5 or 10 years ago?…
If you really believe he has an awesome life and is enjoying himself, you are blind and foolish and I pray you don’t have children too.
There’s NOTHING “refreshing” about Sheen’s drug-addled mental meltdown. Dude’s got children, parents and siblings, and he’s on his way to an early death, if not of his body, most assuredly of his mind. This is sad and pathetic, not refreshing in any way.
uh, yea, actually, it is refreshing that at least he is being honest. how many celebrities are like him, but hide behind publicists and carefully planned out statements. regardless of what you think about his actions, his honesty and openness are indeed refreshing.
It’s not refreshing to see a person have a mental breakdown.
finally. the most intelligent thing written by EW on this subject yet. bulworth–dead on. sheen has never been that inspiring or talented… yet here, he’s found his calling–and has tapped into the fame id in all its bizarro glory. it’s not a pretty sight. yet it’s true.
Bulworth is not dead on, exactly. That movie was self aware and criticized the game. Sheen is glorifying himself. Agreed that he has never been a special talent and public figure. Also: EW is part of the frenzy. Celebrities can afford to downplay their image because they know magazines like this one will do its bit to get the people to worship them for them.
Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t find the delusional ravings of an ignorant egomaniac all that refreshing. There are way too many of those types on TV these days.
I’ve watched appalled at the descent into madness we’ve been watching and at the same time laughed at him being a Vatican Assassin Warlock. It’s kind of like watching some weird Greek tragic play with a fool for a hero. I cringe and laugh at the same time.
D,
Laughing and cringing at the same time was exactly my response at first. But the more Charlie Sheen talks, the less laughing and more cringing I do. What a sad, pathetic man Charlie Sheen is. I feel sorry for his children.
Are you kidding!? He’s not being honest about celebrity, he’s having a mental breakdown! He sounds like anyone I’ve known with bipolar disorder when they’ve been manic — feeling invincible, on top of the world, thinking they’re coming up with the best creative work of their life when it’s all nonsense. And completely out of touch with reality. Which is also a way to describe a post praising anything about Charlie Sheen’s current state as “refreshing.”
Agree. I have heard some experts chime in. Some have said he appears in ‘the midst of a break-down’, and he is exuding ‘acute manic’ behavior. I am no doctor, but I know a little, and yes, it appears a lot like bi-polar disorder.
I also heard he just bought like 3 brand new cars, which would be right in-line w/ the whole bi-polar thing. Probably bought the cars for the ‘goddesses’. Whatever. The media keeps hyping this up, when he is clearly very ill.
he’s not interested in your judgment
@who cares – ..and we’re not interested in yours.
good one L!!!
Looks like bipolar disorder to me too. The man is sick and he is being exploited because right now its pretty obvious that he cant be accountable. Millions suffer from mental illness in this country. Millions self medicate instead of getting help. The ignorance going on isnt from Charlie but from the public and the media’s lack of knowledge on what this really is and how ethically wrong it is to do this to someone, famous or not Go to nimh.com and learn something. Someone you know has suffered from a mental illness. Would you exploit them too?
I am bipolar and I know what it does to you. You said it perfect
Indeed. A member of my family is bipolar and, like Sheen, self-medicates with drugs and alcohol. I’ve seen this behavior before. It’s not funny. It’s not entertaining. It’s sad, disturbing and sometimes quite dangerous. This man needs help, not our approbation. By cheering him on, we’re abetting him – and should something horrible happen, we’ll also be complicit.
I agree, I work in a hospital and see enough bi-polar disorder and manic behavior to recognize mental illness when I see it. The dude needs help.
bi-polar? how about bi-winning. he wins here, he wins there. the earth is bi-polar.
He is for sure manic, and delusional. I would not call his proclamations honest whatsoever, he sounds like he is trying to convince himself more than anyone else. I must also say, as a recovering alcoholic, that I do have a certain amount of empathy for the man. I have been sober for 5 years now, but not without consequence; my destructive ways put me into bankruptcy and I lost my drivers license for almost 3 years. I would have to say I would be filled with a little resentment if this whole ordeal only got Sheen his sitcom money train job back in the fall, with the network building up “the comeback of Charlie Sheen.” He will never get better if his behaviour is just eventually rewarded. He needs to acknowledge and accept the fact that he put hundreds out of work. I am proud to say my life is better than ever sober, but it takes a lot of work to get there. I do wish him luck.
Good luck to you – you sound like a good person
I am part of Team Charlie. He’s got the money, let him party. He pays his child support and alimony and all his bills.
Both his girlfriends are cool with each other. Brooke Mueller is just jealous.
Go Charlie.
I agree. Leave the man alone. When he is done with his bag of coke or has a stroke or worse, then he will realize what a maroon he done did. Winning.
I would really like to leave him alone. If I’m not mistaken, he won’t leave us alone!!
Yeah, that would be awesome for his kids! Daddy had a stroke screwing a porn star while strung out on coke. Sorry, no, we don’t have any money sweetie, he hasn’t worked since Two and a Half Men.
Win the Future
I hope you aren’t aware of his violent attacks against several girlfriends/wives. He is NOT harmless.
I feel bad for Charlie and his children. He obviously has some things going on in his life that nobody knows, therefore can judge him. I hope that everything works out for him and everyone in his life. Those children are beautiful. And everyone knows, without Charlie, there is no “Two and a Half Men”. Sorry, but I had to say it.
Yeah, he has “things” going on in his life. They’re called drugs, alcohol and sex addiction. Judging by his sober behavior and his life choices I would guess he’s self medicating himself for a cognitive disorder as mentioned above.
I don’t feel sorry for him, and I hope he crashes and burns so people who think he’s cool will see what really happens when you don’t seek help for a mental illness.
sex addiction? hahaha you fall for that garbage? its called ‘being a man’
@who cares — No, it’s not. It’s called being a pig.
oh, L, you’re all over me today! you’re witty retorts are more than i can bear. you win. i give up.
Um, has anyone noticed that Sheen’s gals aren’t exactly top shelf. Who the hell is he calling ugly? He needs to take a good long look in the mirror. he looks like s..t and so do his hos
That’s what I was thinking. Most porn starts aren’t great beauties. The girl in the photo above, while cute, is nothing that you can’t find on any given college campus.
And porn stars are probably the saddest, lonliest people on the planet.
—Hollywood stars never talk like this about being famous. It’s such a PR taboo to admit that as a celebrity, you may not be “just like us.” —
I guess this includes movie stars and tv stars only because in music, especially in hip hop music, they do that all the time.
That’s a good point I thought about mentioning — in hip hop, it’s commonplace. But we have a different standard, as Piers Morgan pointed out to Sheen, for our TV and movie stars…
Yes, very good point! If he was singing all of this, with a hip hop beat and talking/rapping wigger, he would get a grammy. He attitude and behavior are par for the course in a society designed around materialism. Sheen reflects society, and yes, it is GREAT to see stars drop the BS PR and tell who they REALLY are. My only hope for him is that he will get help, he has a spiritual malady that cannot be fixed by body, mind or human power.
I would LOVE to hear Charlie’s musings set to a hip hop beat. That might possibly be the greatest thing in the history of things, ever.
True! That’s the primary reason why I detest hip-hop and will NEVER be a fan.
Good for you, Sean. Now f#$@ off
Honky.
(In hip hop, most of that braggery is a put-on. It’s tongue in cheek, but you do get an occasional young-in who takes themselves too seriously. But 99% of rappers are just playing a “macho” game that’s been a built-in joke since the days of DJ Herc.
More often than not, we hear a more “woah is me…I have no privacy…look at all I give up to entertain you” sob story from the more beleaguered actors. I really feel no sympathy for them.
Remember Joaquin Phoenix.
nuff sed.
Do you mean River Pheonix?
I think Jim’s implying it’s all a hoax like with Joaquin.
Joaquin’s was an elaborate hoax, but all you need to do is look at his face. He is sheening out of his mind, here. (book of mormon musical ftw)
All the news media needs to leave him alone. That’s what he wants to feel like he is tarketed. He will settle down.
Uh, I think it’s the other way around. He’s the one going on TV shows and calling radio stations. And hired someone to manage a Twitter account for him.
Charlie Sheen is nothing but a puke.
Everyone needs to chill and stop judging. You don’t know his real situation.
That’s like the catch-phrase of all addicts (“Don’t judge me!” “You’re being judgemental & that’s worse than me being a self-destructive jag!”).
can’t we all get along
I don’t know that this “taboo” is limited to celebrities. If the guy in the cubicle next to me started talking incessantly about how great he is and how much better he is than I am, I wouldn’t find him very likable either, even if it was true. Selfishness, self-involvement, and narcicissim aren’t celebrity-only traits, and are not attractive traits regardless of the source IMO.
PS. Not that we don’t all HAVE these traits inside us of course, but putting them on DISPLAY is poor form. Simple manners and good breeding – it is not polite to draw attention to other’s shortcommings.
Exactly
That’s the thing. We can’t all go around being brutally honest with our ids on fully display, because we’re adults and we need to get along with each other. This is how society works. Charlie is behaving like a child, or a 16-25 year old who thinks they’re so awesome because they speak the “truth” and don’t buy into all that society “bullsh*t”. Just grow up already. You have kids and responsibilities.
Don’t judge all 16-25 year olds like we are narcistic and think were all great. We think just like you! Dont judge just because you were an egotistical child.
I agree with Cameron. He doesn’t know what the term “responsibility” means. He’s acting like what he is: a bad actor who has been handed wealth and fame because of who his family is.
Someone please give him a vasectomy before he breeds more!
Is guy in the cubicle famous