14 Charlie Sheen scandals that have shocked fans through the years

1990: Rumors he shot Kelly Preston

For years, pop culture legend had it that Sheen had shot then-fiancée, Kelly Preston, in the arm. Sheen had never spoken about it and many assumed the gunshot was from a domestic dispute gone awry.

Sheen broke his silence on the topic 21 years later, saying that he didn’t shoot Preston, but that she had shot herself when she picked up a pair of Sheen’s pants and his revolver fell out of the pocket and accidentally fired.

“So she got hit with shrapnel from the toilet bowl,” Sheen said on his My Violent Torpedo of Truth tour in 2011. “The oddest moment… I looked at the phone, completely perplexed, and I didn’t know whether to call 911 or 411. But for years people thought, there was always this conversation, this discussion about the time I tried to kill Kelly Preston.”

2006: Denise Richards’ restraining order

A judge granted Sheen’s then-wife, Denise Richards, an extended restraining order in May of 2006. The order demanded Sheen stay at least 300 yards away from Richards and their daughters Lola, who was 10 months old at the time, and Sam, who was 2 years old, unless on supervised visits.

Court documents stated that Richards claimed Sheen pushed, shoved and threatened to kill her. Sheen denied the allegations.

2009: Arrested for threatening Brooke Mueller

Sheen was arrested in Aspen, Colorado, on Christmas morning 2009, when his wife at the time, Brooke Mueller, claimed that he had held a knife to her throat and threatened to kill her. 

Arresting officers didn’t notice any obvious injuries on Mueller, but she told police Sheen became enraged when she mentioned divorce, grabbing her by the throat and straddling her on the bed. Mueller claims Sheen then held a knife to her throat saying, “You better be in fear. If you tell anybody, I’ll kill you.”

Sheen admitted that he and Mueller slapped each other on the arm during the argument, but denied pushing, striking, stangling or threatning Mueller with a knife. Mueller had a blood alcohol level of 0.13, nearly twice the legal limit, when police arrived on the scene, and later recanted her story.

Early 2010: Felony charges

Despite Mueller’s non-cooperation with authorities, two misdemeanor charges, third-degree assault and felony menacing were filed against Sheen because of the Christmas Day fight.

Colorado courts later dropped the charges down to misdemeanor assault, to which Sheen pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 days of rehab, 30 days of probation and 36 hours of anger management classes.

May 2010: Gives up custody of his kids

Around the time Sheen was dealing with legal battles stemming from his Christmas Day dispute with Mueller, he was also forced to relinquish custody rights to his daughters with Richards.

Richards obtained sole custody and the right to make all decisions pertaining to the girls herself without having to consult Sheen, including medical, education and travel decisions. Sheen also lost his visitation rights.

Oct. 2010: Found naked in hotel room

In the fall of 2010, reports piled in that local police were called to the New York Plaza Hotel because Sheen was causing a ruckus in his room.

Authorities apparently discovered Sheen naked and heavily intoxicated in his hotel quarters. He was taken to a local hospital in New York by police and it was later revealed that he had been heavily partying with porn star, Capri Anderson, despite the fact that he was still married to Mueller.

Nov. 2010: Porn star lawsuits

Not long after the New York hotel incident, Sheen became embroiled in dueling legal battles with Anderson.

Anderson, who accused Sheen of assault and battery weeks after the incident took place in a thinly veiled attempt to get cash out of the actor, dropped a proposed lawsuit when Charlie’s lawyers came back with an extortion suit.

Charlie also accused his paid companion of stealing his wallet and his incredibly rare, incredibly expensive watch.

Jan. 2011: Rehab?

After a wild spiral of wacky statements, partying with more porn stars and smoking massive amounts of cocaine, Sheen was rushed to the hospital for what his rep said was a hernia flare-up.

Upon leaving the hospital, Sheen obtained a rehab professional to help him recover at home, but refused to go to a facility, despite the efforts of everyone close to him.

“This is intervention time,” a friend of Sheen said. “Charlie doesn’t think he needs help, he is still up until all hours of the night and is refusing to get it at an outside facility, all while those close to him, including his dad Martin, family, friends and his employers CBS, work to convince him he needs to enter a facility.”

Feb. 2011: Rant-o-rama

Sheen obviously missed a ton of work on the Two and a Half Men set during his partying and hospital stays, but  CBS stuck with him through it until he went on a crazy radio rant about AA. Shortly after his radio interview, he was fired.

Sheen did not, however, go quietly into the night. His firing launched an epic talk show rant campaign against CBS and Two and a Half Men creator, Chuck Lorre. Sheen appeared on every show from Today to Good Morning America and vowed to sue CBS after he passed a drug test.

“They’re going to lose in a courtroom,” he said. “So, I would recommend that they do an out-of-court settlement and fix this whole thing and pay the crew and get Season 9 back on board.”

April 2011: My Violent Torpedo of Truth

As the public became obsessed with Sheen’s continuing descent into insanity, the actor parlayed the attention into a U.S. rant tour. 

During the tour, he coined his now-infamous uses of the words “winning” and “tiger blood.” He also continued to party with porn stars and other party girls whom he referred to as “goddesses.”

Dec. 2012: Homophobic slur slip

Sheen was at a bar opening in Mexico when he yelled homophobic slurs, which, of course, ended up in a video on the Internet.

At some point during the night, Sheen grabbed the mic and yelled out to the audience, “How we doing? Lying bunch of f****t assholes, how we doing?”

He later issued a public apology, saying,”I meant no ill will and intended to hurt no one and I apologize if I offended anyone… I meant to say maggot but I have a lisp.”

Oct. 2014: Dental chair blow-up

After a dental technician accused Sheen of going berserk in her chair, Sheen fired back, saying it wasn’t true… and a whole lot more.

Sheen allegedly told TMZ that the dental technician was a “jobless, washout traitor,” and also delivered a message to the tech through the gossip site.

“Hey, cholesterol pants: Maybe you should have taken the crack you so brazenly and ignorantly accused me of being on, and sold it!” Sheen reportedly said. “Now that you’re a jobless washout and a traitor, you’re gonna need the extra dough … lick those food stamps, you desperate troll. C.”

The woman was reportedly fired from the dentist office for violating HIPAA patient confidentiality laws.

June 2015: Children rejected from school

During the summer of 2015, Radar Online reported that Sheen’s children were being denied entry to all the private schools they applied to, despite stellar testing scores.

“Several of the schools made it clear there couldn’t be any risk of one of Charlie’s infamous tirades,” said a Radar Online source. “These schools are the best of the best, and do everything to stay out of the media.”

Nov. 2015: HIV rumors

Reports began flying on Nov. 16 that Sheen will publicly announce he is HIV positive in an interview with the Today show. Besides health issues, the announcement brings the possibility of more legal troubles, as well.

“The interview could open up a lot of sympathy for him, but he has to be concerned about a fear of litigation from former sexual partners,” Hollywood publicist, Howard Bragman, explained to People magazine. “You don’t take that lightly.”