March
7, 2011 | 3:04 pm 
In
its letter dismissing Charlie Sheen from the CBS show "Two
and a Half Men," lawyers for Warner Bros. dumped the company's
whole basket of dirty laundry on the actor out. Sheen
"has been engaged in dangerously self-destructive conduct
and appears to be very ill," the letter from the firm of
Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP to attorney Marty Singer said.
Sheen's condition "undermined the production in numerous
and significant ways" and ultimately left Warner Bros.,
the producers of the hit sitcom, no choice but to pull the plug
on the show and subsequently on himself. "Warner
Bros. would not, could not, and should not attempt to continue
`business as usual' while Mr. Sheen destroys himself as the
world watches," the letter said. Sheen's
camp leaked the letter to Singer to the gossip site TMZ, and
its contents were subsequently confirmed by people familiar
with the matter. Sheen told the site that his firing was good
news. The
letter firing Sheen is the latest back-and-forth between the
actor and Warner Bros., CBS and Chuck Lorre, the co-creator
and executive producer of "Two and a Half Men." Production
on the show was suspended for four episodes in January so Sheen
could go to a rehabilitation facility after a series of incidents
that included hospital trips and run-ins with the law. Sheen
opted to be treated at home and soon declared himself ready
to return to work. Warner
Bros., CBS and Lorre weren't buying Sheen's miracle cure and
after the actor went on a media tour trashing all three, production
for the entire season was suspended. Sheen
and his legal team have argued that Warner Bros. is in breach
of his contract for ending production of this season, but the
lawyers for Warner Bros. counter that it is the actor who has
overstepped his bounds, not the studio. Sheen's
"self-destructive conduct resulted in his hospitalization,
his inability to work at all for a period and the rapid erosion
of the cooperative and creative process necessary to produce
the show," the studio's lawyers said. Sheen is described
as missing rehersals and not being prepared for filming. The
letter goes on to say that Sheen's admitted drug use and "furnishing
of cocaine" to others puts him in violation of his contract.
"There is ample evidence supporting Warner Bros. reasonable
good faith opinion that Mr. Sheen has committed felony offenses
involving moral turpitude ... that have interfered with his
ability to fully and completely render all material services
required" under his contract. Interestingly,
the letter acknowledges that Warner Bros., CBS and Lorre were
previously willing to overlook Sheen's various issues with the
law and substance abuse to keep the show going. "While
it was not anywhere close to an ideal working situation, Warner
Bros. and CBS as well as Mr. Lorre continued to make accommodations
for the off-camera (yet very public) aspects of Mr. Sheen's
life," the letter said, adding "at each step, Warner
Bros. CBS and Mr. Lorre expressed their wholehearted support
for Mr. Sheen and concern for his health and well-being." That
may give fuel to critics who say that Sheen's bosses were willing
to look the other way when he got into legal scrapes and was
accused of violence toward women including his wives, but got
tough when he started trashing them. Discover The Secret Celebrity Weight Loss Program: Click Here! Get Instant Access to Over 4500 HD Quality Channels: Click Here! Article
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