‘NIGHTMARE’

Charlie Sheen ‘Terrified’ Co-Star in Final Sitcom Scene

Chuck Lorre alleged that Charlie Sheen “unraveled” during the “Two and a Half Men” finale.

Two and a Half Men showrunner Chuck Lorre is alleging that Charlie Sheen created a “constant state of anxiety” at the end of the show’s run.

Vanity Fair published an excerpt from Lorre’s upcoming memoir Sitcom, out October 13, in which he writes that the “nightmare” continued through to Sheen’s very last episode.

“The last scene we shot was with Charlie and Melanie Lynskey,” Lorre wrote in the excerpt. “He couldn’t remember any of his lines and had to use the furniture to keep himself upright,” he added. “Melanie was terrified.”

“It was clear to everyone that this man, whom we’d all grown to love, was in trouble. I had no choice but to shut down the show.”

The Daily Beast has reached out to representatives for Sheen and Lynskey for comment.

Lynskey told Fox News about Sheen in 2018, “I send him my best always and hope that he’s doing well. But… he was a very, very generous actor to work with and was always very kind to me.”

The series went on “a desperately needed three-month hiatus,” after the episode, Lorre wrote, despite Sheen’s objections at the time.

“After the shutdown, I told him the plan was to shoot two more episodes then call it a season—giving him a chance to get cleaned up. He angrily insisted we shoot four more,” he said.

Lorre speculated that Sheen may have “needed the money.” According to Sheen’s own memoir, CBS executives convinced him to go to rehab, which “didn’t go as planned.”

Lorre wrote in his book that “The show would wait for him to get straightened out, only resuming when he was ready. No harm, no foul,” but it didn’t quite happen that way.

The showrunner alleged that Sheen spent the time “getting loaded” instead. Sheen wrote that his behavior at the time was due to “testosterone cream” he was using. It turned him into a “raging demon,” he wrote.

Lorre said Sheen would often call out of work, claiming he was sick due to “food poisoning, usually bad clams. There were a lot of emergency dental appointments.” He also alleged that “Once, I was informed he would not be attending rehearsal because his BIC lighter had exploded and burned off his eyelashes.” The unpredictability caused “a constant state of anxiety,” he wrote.

Two and a Half Men ran with Sheen as the star for eight seasons until he departed in 2011 and was replaced by Ashton Kutcher. Kutcher played four seasons until the series ended in 2015.

Lorre revealed that before Kutcher landed the role, CBS offered Hugh Grant $750,000 an episode to replace Sheen. The actor ultimately passed.

Sheen blamed Lorre for his exit from the show, but the show boss insisted in his book that Sheen’s claim that he was behind his firing was “ridiculously untrue.” He wrote, “Anybody who knows anything about the television business knows that writers don’t have the power to fire the star of a billion-dollar show.” Sheen sued him anyway in 2011 for $100 million dollars. The suit was ultimately settled privately.

Lorre wrote that the show had become a “nightmare,” but that he and Sheen had become cordial over the years. Sheen was “gracious and grateful” when they crossed paths again, he wrote. “It was just over.”

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Eboni Boykin-PattersonEntertainment Reporter

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