Warner Bros. Television has made it official. Charlie Sheen will not be returning to the company’s hit sitcom “Two and a Half Men.”
The brief statement was released Monday: “After careful consideration, Warner Bros. Television has terminated Charlie Sheen’s services on ‘Two and a Half Men,’ effective immediately.”
What hasn’t been decided yet is whether the show will be back on CBS for another season next fall, sans Sheen.
To no one’s surprise, Sheen’s lawyer, Marty Singer, told The Hollywood Reporter and TMZ that the actor will sue over the termination.
The letter officially dismissing Sheen stated that he had been unable to perform the duties required under his contract and that Warner Bros. had ample evidence that he had committed a “felony offense involving moral turpitude,” both situations which permitted the studio to fire him. The letter took issue with Sheen’s claims that he had always performed well on the set, with Warner Bros. stating that it has film of him being unable to remember his lines. The studio stated that it would not pay him for the remainder of the contract, as his lawyers had demanded, but rather would seek damages from Sheen for two episodes from season eight and eight from season nine which were canceled. The letter said the contract required arbitration of the claims from each side.
After learning that he had been fired Sheen sent a statement to TMZ which continued his recent string of statements referring to himself as a “warlock” and calling it “good news” because he can now sue for breach of contract. “This is very good news. They continue to be in breach, like so many whales. It is a big day of gladness at the Sober Valley Lodge because now I can take all of their bazillions, never have to look at whatshiscock again and I never have to put on those silly shirts for as long as this warlock exists in the terrestrial dimension,” said the statement posted by TMZ.
After first being suspended when Sheen made headlines for damaging a New York hotel room where he had been partying with a porn star, production of Two and a Half Men was shut down for the rest of the season last month after Sheen made a public rant attacking the show’s creator, Chuck Lorre. Thereafter he made more public rants against Lorre, CBS and Warner Bros.
CBS Corporation CEO Les Moonves noted last week at an investor conference that cutting short the current season has actually been to the network’s short-term financial advantage, since it pays Warner Bros. less for reruns.
RBR-TVBR observation: If this surprises you, you obviously haven’t been paying attention. You can still vote in our RBR-TVBR poll on the ultimate outcome. One sure bet is that several attorneys are going to get big checks from this.
(source: TMZ) The letter firing Sheen:
