Charlie Sheen, who has had more than his fair share of problems, shocked executives at CBS and Warner Bros. TV when he returned from holiday hiatus last week looking as if he’d lost 25 pounds.
His changed appearance led executives with WBTV to threaten to shut down the show and send him to rehab if the actor didn’t get clean.
Things got worse Wednesday when Sheen missed work, citing a long standing “earache” that needed a doctor’s attention.
These are only the latest in a string of sensational exploits that again have Sheen on the gossip pages and his TV bosses in a sweat over how far he will go.
Just this past weekend, Sheen was on a Las Vegas bender, hanging out with porn star Bree Olson and two other adult-film stars Sunday night at The Palms Hotel, according to TMZ.
Sheen was with Olson as a sideshow to her appearance at the Adult Video News Awards, the Oscars of pornography.
This is not the first time Sheen has partied with porn stars to embarrassing excess. Just this past October, Sheen had an incident with porn star Capri Anderson inside a suite at the Plaza Hotel.
Sheen hit a low on Christmas Day 2009 when police were called to his Aspen home after the actor pinned his then-wife on a bed, put a knife to her throat, and threatened to kill her because she wanted a divorce.
Sheen’s party this past weekend continued into Monday morning, when the actor was seen downing shots of Grey Goose vodka at the hotel bar before he boarded a private jet back to LA.
Sheen’s private shenanigans leave show executives in a pickle because there is very little they — or the actor’s team — can do about it.
As long as the actor continues to show up at work knowing his lines, “there’s limited resources we have to impact the situation,” a member of Sheen’s camp told thewrap.com.
Executives with CBS and WBTV are equally at odds over what to do about Sheen’s propensity for attracting problems when he’s away from the show.
“Of course, we’re worried,” said an industry expert close to the show.
“But he always shows up for work on time and does a great job, it’s not like he’s missing in action. And he actually stays out of trouble when he’s working. So you do the math.”
The math in this situation is pretty simple: “Two and a Half Men” continues to produce big ratings for CBS and thus nobody wants to rock the boat, no matter how many porn stars or prostitutes inhabit Sheen’s private life.