The Ups And Downs Of Charlie Sheen’s Relationship With Chuck Lorre

In February 2011, Chuck Lorre’s vanity card appeared on the final new “Two and a Half Men” episode that was recorded before the show paused production for Charlie Sheen’s addiction treatment. Sheen was pursuing rehab from home,  and just over a week after the broadcast, Sheen retaliated in a radio interview, calling him “clown” and “charlatan” (via The Hollywood Reporter). Sheen doesn’t use his real name professionally, and when he used Lorre’s given surname — Levine — paired with the Hebrew name Chaim rather than his legal birth name, Charles, his behavior was deemed antisemitic. As HuffPost explained, “Using the wrong name is a way at jabbing at his religious background.”

Sheen continued hurling insults at Lorre in other interviews, and in March 2011, he was fired from the show. Days later, Sheen sued Lorre and Warner Bros. for $100 million, claiming that Lorre and the studio were penalizing him for his outspoken comments. It took six months before the lawsuit was settled out of court. However, the legal settlement did not quench Sheen’s anger. In 2017, he appeared Australia’s “The Kyle and Jackie O Show” radio program and unleashed a string of profanity, saying, “The most ridiculous impostor, Chuck Lorre … Suck my f***ing butt.”

By 2018, however, Sheen’s perspective had dramatically shifted. The actor reappeared on Kyle and Jackie O’s show, complimenting Lorre’s TV talents. Sheen also expressed a desire to repair their relationship. “He lives close by, I could easily go by and just drop a note under his door with my phone number, which I should, and I will,” Sheen informed Australia’s “Today” show.