Charlie Sheen, once a pleasant presence on the screens, turned into a Hollywood nightmare – a low class act that continues to haunt the headlines, in more recent news with the typical “sue the network” scenario. TMZ reported that Charlie Sheen plans on suing CBS, Warner Bros., and Chuck Lorre for breach of contract. As People reports, Charlie Sheen is demanding a public apology from CBS, as well as a 50 percent pay hike – to $3 million per episode – after the “psychological damage” he claims the network and his Two and a Half Men producer Chuck Lorre have caused him.
For those interested in following the Sheen scandal, TMZ has an extensive database, featuring all the dirty details, opinions from both parts, and other incendiary material. At Everything PR we are less interested in featuring gossip, and more interested in understanding the PR implications, and the cause-and-effect rapports.
Charlie Sheen is not a very brilliant individual – at least his actions speak against better labels. He’s been a walking PR disaster for some time, with crass displays of arrogance, drug addiction, antisemitism and spouse abuse, among many other wrongs. If you ever needed a poster child for everything that’s wrong with Hollywood, there has never been a better candidate than Charlie Sheen, not even Lindsay Lohan, who at least has beauty and young age on her side. In fact, it’s rather challenging to find the words to defend Sheen – a mediocre actor who got lucky to be cast as one of the main stars of the “biggest hit comedy of the past decade.” Personally, I am not up to that challenge – I find nothing noteworthy in Sheen’s career, not event the Two and a Half Men sitcom, whose success is not Sheen’s sole making, but a team effort, also involving Jon Cryer, and the young star Angus T. Jones.
Sheen, who is “tired of pretending that he is not special,” is a loose cannon:
“Yeah, I am on a drug. It’s called Charlie Sheen! It’s not available, because if you try it once, you will die. Your face will melt off, and your children will weep over your exploded body. … I woke up and decided, you know, I’ve been kicked around, I’ve been criticized. I’ve been this ‘Aww, shucks’ guy with this bitchin’ rock-star life, and I’m finally going to completely embrace it, wrap both arms around it and love it violently. And defend it violently through violent hatred.”
The rant of a crazy man, the rant of a delusional character on drugs, the rant of someone arrogant beyond reason or does Charlie Sheen know something we don’t? Will his recent TV appearances, where the “rock star from Mars” shows no remorse, change the joint decision of CBS and Warner Bros, that states pretty clearly: “Based on the totality of Charlie Sheen’s statements, conduct and condition, CBS and Warner Bros. Television have decided to discontinue production of ‘Two and a Half Men’ for the remainder of the season?” Hardly, despite Sheen’s cockiness, that would see the networks bending to Charlie’s will: “Come Wednesday morning, they’re going to rename it Charlie Bros., not Warner Bros.”
The issue with Charlie Sheen, and his main PR gaffe, is that all this back and forth between himself and a network tired of an employee who doesn’t perform contractually, is, in fact, affecting the public perception. This is not a Tiger Woods situation – the golf star understood the weight of the burden, and showed genuine remorse, eventually. This is not a Mel Gibson situation, where a talented, and troubled actor, did show remorse for some of his wrongs. Sheen lives in a world that is not accessible for outsiders, and he is proud of it:
“I’m tired of pretending I’m not bitching a total freaking rock star from Mars. And people can’t figure me out. They can’t process me. I don’t expect them to. You can’t process me with a normal brain.”
If things continue like this, Sheen will lose the least respect fans still have for his persona. His contributions to the entertainment industry cannot be dismissed, but Hollywood is a powerful institution, and no one is faster forgotten than a Hollywood persona non grata – no matter how many TV appearances some PR rep manages to pull out. At the end of the day, Charlie Sheen is no Adam Sandler. The comedy world will not miss him. So the best advice would be: wake up, and smell the roses, Charlie. No, you are not that important. But you are now a trend, you sell some papers, because, isn’t it, fans love a good scandal. However, there’s always something more interesting, and more entertaining on the other side.
About Mihaela Lica Butler
