14 DAY TRIAL // The Charlie Sheen – Chuck Lorre feud has been so documented in the press that it must probably already have its own place in history. Not only did it cost Sheen his job on “Two and a Half Men,” but it also forced fans to choose sides. Lorre is just now talking about it.
Granted, the series' creator didn't actually keep mum on the feud while it was still raging on, but he never really opened up about it either.
Speaking with the latest issue of TV Guide, Lorre says Sheen's downfall began long before the public learned about it, at about the time he held a knife to the neck of his then-wife Brooke Mueller.
In what seems like an honest attempt at setting the record straight so that he's no longer seen as the villain in all this, Lorre explains that the situation was like watching a trainwreck happening: Sheen was dying and it was very painful to watch.
There were cocaine binges and there was a lot of violence, Lorre recalls in the first interview of the kind he gives.
“You can’t do that much cocaine and work. I didn’t want to be writing a sitcom while my friend died. Or worse, hurt someone else. We couldn’t be complacent. There was a tragedy unfolding right in front of us,” he says.
“There was violence and blackouts. On a certain level, if you’re looking the other way, you’re responsible. It was falling apart. It was heartbreaking to be around here then,” Lorre adds.
He lied to himself that things would be better in time, he admits.
Sheen attacked Mueller on a family vacation, but she forgave him shortly afterwards – and Lorre thought this meant things could still work themselves out.
In almost no time, though, it became very clear that Sheen was having severe issues with substance abuse and he was let go from the show following a series of very public and very embarrassing outbursts.
At about that time, Chuck offered to leave the show, saying he didn't want to be the reason many people would be left without a job.
“I offered to quit the show last winter. I said, 'Listen, if for some reason I'm now the Antichrist I'm happy to leave. It's not in my interest to stop the show, and I certainly don't want to put all these people out of work. Keep going. Get another guy. Don't stop on my account',” he says.
He stayed on and got to see Ashton Kutcher come into the picture to take over from where Charlie had left.