Charlie Sheen's Career Implosion
There's going out with a bang, and then there's going down in a fiery crash — the route Charlie Sheen opted for when he parted ways with CBS and his role on the popular sitcom Two and a Half Men. Following a very public clash with the show's creator, Chuck Lorre, Sheen embarked on a lengthy series of erratic and bumbling interviews in which he came off as increasingly unhinged. When CBS officially dropped the ax and fired Sheen, who had more than a year left on his contract, the actor's downward spiral continued, playing out in front of a very eager audience. Sheen filed a wrongful-termination lawsuit against the network, declaring that he deserved a 50% raise. He paraded his live-in girlfriends, dubbed "the goddesses," around in interviews while undergoing a public custody fight with Brooke Mueller, the mother of his two youngest children. Along the way, he coined about half a dozen catchphrases with bizarre statements like "I'm tired of pretending I'm not a total bitchin' rock star from Mars" and frequent shouts of "winning." He even took his ego show on the road, with a short-lived tour that sold out in some cities and got him booed off the stage in others. While much of Sheen's behavior was worrisome, it was more likely the boldness with which he carried out his breakdown that caused such a stir in the media. While most celebrities hide behind vague explanations and big sunglasses when scandal strikes, Sheen flaunted his erratic lifestyle for all to see; sadly for everyone involved, we just couldn't seem to stop watching. And in case you haven't gotten enough of him, the FX network has tentatively picked up a sitcom starring Sheen for next year called Anger Management.