We all know what happened: Charlie Sheen had a very public meltdown and was fired from the hit show Two and a Half Men, but what not many people know is how and why this happened.
Sheen's co-star, Jon Cryer, finally opened up about the scandalous incident.
Starting From The Top
Two and a Half Men was one of the very few shows that just hit the jackpot from the beginning. The show was an instant hit and quickly became the No. 1 TV series not only in America but also in other countries.
Most of the success of the show was owed to its stars: Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer. Sheen in particular was the most popular TV actor at the height of the show, and for a few years he was the highest-paid actor in television. So how could it all go so wrong so fast?
Fame And Fortune
By 2010, Sheen was making a shocking $1.8 million per episode of the show, making him the richest TV actor around that time. Not only did he enjoy a massive fortune, but he was also beloved by many.
Fans from all over the world loved tuning in to see Sheen and Cryer get into their usual trouble on the show and making them laugh, so it is no surprise that Sheen got two Golden Globe nominations and won four Emmys. A year later, however, things started to change.
Things Change
While 2010 was an amazing year for the show and for the cast, 2011 was the complete opposite. The world was shocked when Two and a Half Men suddenly went on hiatus and the future of the show became uncertain.
It all happened because of Sheen's tumultuous life. A series of events led to the show's hiatus, but it all happened behind the scenes. Nobody saw it coming except those involved in the show.
A Concerned Friend
Jon Cryer was one of the people who were caught in the eye of the storm. While Sheen was going through a lot of issues and scandals, Cryer was not only a concerned employee of the show worried about losing his job, but he was a concerned friend.
Out of all the people on the show, Cryer was the closest to Sheen, and seeing him spiral out of control was extremely hard. After many years, Cryer opened up about this part of his life in his memoir.
A Little Background
To understand what it was like for Cryer to go through this, we need to go back to the beginning. Although he reached worldwide fame with Two and a Half Men, his career has been far from smooth sailing.
Cryer started acting from a very young age in stage musicals. He caught the acting bug from his father, who was an actor, and his mother, a playwright. He spent every summer at theater camp and eventually landed a role in a Broadway play.
Early Success
After doing a few Broadway plays, Cryer finally got his big break on a movie, the 1986 hit film Pretty in Pink. The movie did great, but his subsequent roles did not live up to his role in this movie.
In the following years, Cryer struggled to get major roles in movies and he eventually switched to television, which also wasn't easy. In fact, he ended up struggling even more as a TV actor in his adult years.
Failure-Prone
Whenever Cryer thought he was going to strike gold, things would go sideways. He got parts in four comedy shows that ended up being canceled, which earned him a reputation of being a "failure-prone actor" and a "show killer" thanks to an article by Newsweek.
Can you imagine being labeled that? Those names are sure to kill a career! Cryer was very close to giving up, and his reputation was tarnished thanks to that article. It was extremely difficult for him to find work but then, things turned around.
Another Chance
After all he went through in his career, Cryer could not be more grateful to have landed a role in Two and a Half Men. This was his chance to revive his career, so he put his best face on set every single day.
In 2004, the first season of the show came out. Cryer played Alan Harper, an uptight father who moves in with his brother Charlie after his rocky divorce. Sheen and Cryer's chemistry is what really drove the show, and that chemistry was very real off camera.
Building A Friendship
The person Cryer looked forward to seeing the most every day on set was Charlie Sheen. The two had a lot in common at the beginning: they were both married and had kids and took their jobs very seriously.
According to Cryer, however, this only lasted through season one. Because he was the closest friend Sheen had on set, he was the one to see the first sings of Sheen's issues. At the beginning, however, he ignored them and didn't think much of them.
Massive Success
Cryer could not believe the success the show was having. After all the failed projects he had been involved in, he was finally being recognized for his acting skills and his hard work. He was extremely grateful and did not let fame get to his head because of his past.
This massive amount of fame, however, was having the opposite effect on Sheen. While he had been a grounded family man during the first season of the show, the Hollywood life was being more and more appealing to him as time went by.
Divorce
Right around the same time season 2 came out, Sheen's second wife and mother of his two daughters, Denise Richards, filed for divorce. Their divorce wasn't a regular one, however.
A lot of scandalous things came out during their legal battle. Richards accused Sheen of abusing substances and cheating on her, which obviously is not good for someone's reputation. Although Sheen denied it at the time, we all know now that it was all very true.
More Money, More Problems
Cryer could also see all of this happening behind the scenes. According to Cryer, after Sheen's divorce, he got more and more involved with illegal substances. This was the beginning of his downfall.
Even after his divorce, he was still getting exposed for his indecent behavior. A few women came out publicly and claimed that they had been with Sheen while he was married. Because of his fame and success, however, these rumors did not affect his career.
Moving On
In 2008, Sheen married actress Brooke Mueller, and this relationship would prove to be even more scandalous than the first one. The two enjoyed a drama-free year until things started to go sour.
In 2009, the police was called to their home over a domestic dispute and Sheen was arrested. This was the first time that the public really got to realize what was going on with Sheen. For Cryer and the rest of the crew, however, this had been going on for years.
Torn
Cryer did not open up about this for a long time because even after all that happened, he considered Sheen a close friend. He noticed that Sheen was abusing substances but he thought that as long as he showed up to set and had it under control, things would be fine.
To protect his job and Sheen's job, he did not say a word. Meanwhile, Sheen's issues intensified and in 2011, he had a very public meltdown that made headlines everywhere and caused the show to go on hiatus.
Getting Worse
In 2010, Sheen went to rehab and things seemed to be getting better. In fact, he got a two-year deal that gave him $1.8 million per episode. However, this lasted only a few months. Near the end of the year, Sheen was arrested once more.
This time, it was for property damage after he trashed a hotel room and caused $7,000 worth of damage. This was certainly not good publicity for the show, but Sheen's friends and colleagues wanted to give him another chance.
Winning
In 2011, the relationship between Sheen and the show became unsustainable. Sheen famously did an interview in which he bad mouthed producer Chuck Lorre and he was subsequently fired from the show.
He then went on a media rampage in which he rambled about having "tiger blood" and that he was "winning", a phrase that went viral on the internet. This may have been funny for those looking at it from the outside, but it was an awful situation for everyone involved.
Uncertain Future
What happened with Sheen not only affected him, but it threatened the future of everyone involved in the show. Without the main star of the show, could the series move forward? Nobody knew whether they would be able to keep their job or not.
For Cryer, this was very hard. He not only had to see his friend's life go down in a spiral, but he was facing unemployment once more. Could his career ever recover after such a big hit?
Opening Up
Cryer opened up about what he was feeling during that time and said in an interview: "There's the fact that all of our jobs are tied into this guy, and we're all his friends."
Although he was concerned about his own career, his biggest concern was Sheen's welfare: " “I was just scared every day that I was going to read about Charlie being dead. Anybody who’s gotten close to him knows that there’s a really good guy in there.”
A Fresh Start
Many people didn't think that the show would survive without Sheen, especially Sheen himself, but the show proved him wrong. He was replaced with Ashton Kutcher and season 9 did very well.
Sheen's character was killed off and Kutcher replaced him as Walden, a millionaire who moves in with Alan after he saves his life. This dynamic was well-received and the show spanned another four seasons.
Bumps In The Road
The new, revamped Two and a Half Men did have its problems, however. While season 9 had no issues, season 10 did. This season was the last one featuring Angus T. Jones, who played Jake, Alan's son.
Jake was the third piece of the puzzle of the show, so it was a hard hit for the series. With Sheen gone, another loss could be devastating. Not only that, but Jones' exit was far from amicable.
Another Scandal
Jones, who was 19 at the time, basically grew up on the show. As he became an adult, his very conservative religious beliefs came in conflict with the show and its premise.
One day, he decided he could not stand it anymore and he quit. But he didn't just walk away in a friendly manner - he took to Youtube and posted a video warning people about the "filth" of the show.
Filth
Jones begged those watching the video not to watch Two and a Half Men because it was "filth". He said he was ashamed of being part of it and that he would focus on his spirituality from now on.
Not long after he posted that video he issued an apology because let's face it, what he did does not qualify as "leaving in good terms". A couple of years after this whole debacle, he mended his relationship with the show.
No Hard Feelings
Jones came back for the last season of the show and apologized for the statements he made previously. There were no hard feelings and everyone welcomed him with open arms.
The last episode of the show aired on February 19, 2015, and it was a very emotional moment for everyone. Although the show made peace with Jones, the writers took jabs at Sheen the whole time, even up to the last scene.
Unapologetic
Even though Jones' characters' return to the show was celebrated, Sheen's character was not. A body double was used in the last episode to resemble Sheen walking up to the house and almost opening the door.
As he's about to enter, a piano cartoonishly falls on him and crushes him. Then, producer Chuck Lorre appears on screen and says to the camera: "Winning!" as a reference to Sheen's popular phrase he said when he was fired from the show.
Good Memories
Even after everything that happened, Cryer has no hard feelings towards Sheen and hopes that he is doing well. The best thing to come out of the show for him was the first blissful years of friendship he enjoyed with Sheen. About that time, he said: "It was incredibly smooth, we had a lovely time, it was working really well.”
"“It was very, very strange and there were aspects of it that I absolutely hated, but you know, I’m thankful for the years that were great.” Cryer is now working on other projects. His most recent role was as Lex Luthor in Supergirl. Hopefully, we will see him starring in another sitcom soon.