LOS ANGELES—Troubled actor Charlie Sheen was sacked Monday from the hit TV series “Two and a Half Men” after slamming its producers in outbursts described as part of his “self-inflicted disintegration.”
Warner Brothers said it was forced into the move by the 45-year-old’s “dangerously self-destructive conduct,” according to a 10-page letter from Warners’ lawyers which said Sheen appeared very ill.
“After careful consideration, Warner Bros. Television has terminated Charlie Sheen’s services on ‘Two and a Half Men’ effective immediately,” the studio said in a terse one-line statement.
The show — in which Sheen plays a hedonistic bachelor — had already been canceled for the rest of the season following Sheen’s repeated verbal attack on its producer, Chuck Lorre, two weeks ago.
Sheen drew accusations of anti-Semitism after referring to Lorre by the Hebrew translation of his name, but persisted with a series of rambling TV interviews last week, prompting his spokesman to quit.
The star also started his own Twitter feed which immediately became an Internet sensation, and over the weekend launched a live-streamed online talk show, dubbed “Sheen’s Korner.”
But a letter from Warner Brothers lawyers at the firm Munger, Tolles and Olson, published Monday by celebrity website TMZ said: “Let us state the obvious: (Sheen) has been engaged in dangerously self-destructive conduct and appears to be very ill.
“For months before the suspension of production, Mr. Sheen’s erratic behavior escalated while his condition deteriorated. His declining condition undermined the production in numerous and significant ways.
“Now, the entire world knows Mr. Sheen’s condition from his alarming outbursts over just the last few weeks,” it said, lamenting “the public spectacle of his self-inflicted disintegration.”
The letter listed various incidents involving the notorious wildman actor, including in New York hotel in October, and a marathon party at his LA home in late January which left him hospitalized.
And it insisted the show’s producers had done all they could to try to help the actor.
“Warner executives and Mr. Lorre could see that Mr. Sheen’s drug and alcohol abuse was not only affecting his ability to work on the show, but endangering his life,” it said.
“Mr. Lorre thought that Mr. Sheen was on a life threatening descent and felt he could not continue to work on the show while watching Mr. Sheen self-destruct,” added the letter.
TMZ reported that Sheen would follow through with a threat to sue Lorre and Warner Brothers.
There was no immediate response from Sheen on his Twitter feed, which was only launched last week and by Monday had more than 2.1 million followers.
“I’m looking to hire a winning intern with Tiger Blood,” he said in his last tweet before his sacking was announced, using hashtag phrases from his account on the micro-blogging website.
“Two and a Half Men,” about hedonistic jingle writer Charlie Harper, has been a hit since it was launched in 2003 and has been nominated for numerous awards, including nods for Sheen at the Emmys and Golden Globes.
In November, the star filed for divorce from his wife of two years, days after being taken to the hospital following the reported drunken incident at a luxury New York hotel involving a porn star.
In addition to his reported substance abuse, Sheen had several run-ins with the law in the 1990s in cases related to drugs, domestic violence and prostitution.