One of the most popular controversies in Hollywood’s entertainment industry has unarguably been that of Charlie Sheen and the backlash he attracted with his comments after launching to extraordinary heights of success with Two and a Half Men. In fact, that was one thing even Harvey Weinstein shared his opinions on.
Of course, a lot of fans already knew that the turn of events would be a wild one for Sheen, who was not only putting up a fight against show co-creator Chuck Lorre but also the network executives, about whom he had some really nasty words to spill. In fact, it was all so brutal that even Weinstein predicted that Sheen was in a losing game.
Charlie Sheen really took it a bit too far with his Two and a Half Men comments
Back in time, while Sheen garnered a lot of controversies after calling Two and a Half Men co-creator Chuck Lorre a clown, a turd and a charlatan among other things before proceeding to say he wouldn’t entirely rule out working with him again, what had him gaining even more negative attention were the unfavorable things he had to say about CBS executives.
In his 20/20 interview in 2011 (via Deadline), he said about Lorre, “Maybe two guys just sit in a room and say, ‘Look, we hate each other, let’s continue to make some great television.’” At the same time, he said about CBS execs: “The fun stops [on the sets] when they roll in. They just puke all over it. They’re not welcome to be in the presence of what I’m delivering.”
This, of course, wasn’t really the finest of things to say, even if the show had earned the then-46-year-old Sheen more than enough fame and cemented his reputation as one of the finest and wealthiest actors in television. So when Harvey Weinstein followed by saying that the Platoon star was playing a losing game with this one, he actually wasn’t joking.
Harvey Weinstein knew from the start that Charlie Sheen was in a losing game
On Piers Morgan Tonight, Weinstein initially praised Sheen, calling him “one of the best actors when he’s motivated.” However, when the show host suggested that Sheen’s strategy of going after the magnates, like CBS Corp.’s then-CEO Les Moonves, might work, Weinstein honestly said:
I know Les Moonves. (Laughs) Charlie’s playing a losing game. Absolutely. And Les is maverick in this situation, he’s holding the cards.
Adding to this, Weinstein also emphasized how he trusted Moonves to “make the right decision” about the respective sitcom because of Charlie Sheen. The former entertainment industry mogul candidly said putting it all out there about Moonves:
He’s cool, he’s smart, and he’s wildly successful and not one show is going to make the difference to CBS. CBS, under Les Moonves, makes a billion dollars a year in the business that people say is not working… Les Moonves knows how to program. Les Moonves knows how to make a show. That’s a dangerous guy to go against.
That being said, it’s unarguable that the Wall Street actor was, in fact, in a losing game right from the beginning, as Weinstein put it, for there was no chance he would have survived after putting up a fight with bigwigs like the former CEO of CBS Corps. or even the showrunner Lorre, despite being the highest-paid actor in television at the time.
Two and a Half Men can currently be streamed on Prime Video.
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