Charlie Sheen: The Women Left In His Wake

By drodriguez Mar 06, 2011

Living under a rock is no excuse for not hearing news of the Charlie Sheen saga that continues to grow day after day. From bizarre outbursts and rants during his recent interviews to a record number of followers on his Twitter feed, Sheen has managed to get our attention and then some in just a short amount of time. He has repeatedly voiced his anger over CBS and the Two And A Half Men producer, Chuck Lorre, who moved to cancel the show after Sheen’s drug use and “partying” got out of hand.

Over the last week Sheen has gone from spouting out unintelligible ramblings to becoming a folk-hero of sorts to many young people following and being entertained by his every move.  Fans have begun quoting his catchphrases such as “winning” and “duh” and there are even websites dedicated to his idiosyncrasies. But if you look at Sheen’s past history of violence toward women, you may wonder why the media seems so focused on the “partying” and drug use and merely brushes over his issues with domestic abuse.

A recent op-ed piece, “The Disposable Woman” by Anna Holmes of the New York Times begs the question why we seem more “entertained than outraged” when it comes to the way Sheen has repeatedly been accused of harming women and has nevertheless remained one of the highest paid actors on television. His documented history of abuse toward women began more than 20 years ago when in 1990 accidentally shot his then fiancee, Kelly Preston, in the arm before their engagement came to an end.

Just four years after this debacle with Preston, Sheen was accused of striking a college student in the head after she refused to sleep with him.  This case was settled out of court. In 1996, adult film actress Brittany Ashland told police that Sheen threw her to the floor at his home during an argument. Sheen later plead no contest in court and ended up paying a fine.

Both actresses, Denise Richards and Brooke Mueller accused Sheen of threatening to kill them while they were married to him in 2006 and 2009.  Sheen ended up pleading guilty to threatening Mueller and allegedly holding a knife to her throat.  For this he was placed on probation. After this incident, Sheen returned to taping Two And A Half Men where it seemed to be business as usual as Sheen continued to be paid over a million dollars an episode.

Holmes has a theory on why the media, fans, and networks do not take Sheen’s history of abuse toward women seriously. She talks about the “imperfections of the accusers" by saying, “The women are of a type, which is to say, highly unsympathetic. Some are sex workers - pornographic film stars and escorts - whose compliance with churlish conduct is assumed to be part of the deal. (For the record: It is not.)”

What do you think of Sheen’s history of violence and the way people have reacted to his recent public appearances?

Do you think Sheen should be able to go back to work for Two And A Half Men?