Charlie Sheen writes in his new memoir that he lost his virginity as a sophomore in high school to a Las Vegas escort — and that a friend was with him when it happened.
In an excerpt from The Book of Sheen: A Memoir, the 60-year-old actor recounts traveling to Las Vegas with a friend he identifies as Joey and using his father Martin Sheen’s credit card to pay a red-headed escort he calls "Candy." Sheen writes that Candy "responded with a level of physical generosity neither of us knew existed" and that he "went first," suggesting Joey had sex with the woman after him. After the encounter, Sheen says Candy asked whether they could "wake Dad up for an autograph," and that Martin gave his son a two-hour lecture about "sex vs. love." Sheen writes he stressed how "gorgeous" Candy was and that they both got "a great deal for the price."
The revelations are among several candid passages timed with the release of a two-part Netflix documentary, aka Charlie Sheen, which began streaming Sept. 10. In the documentary, Sheen also discusses having sex with men for the first time and links those encounters to a period when he was using crack cocaine. He told the camera the admission was "f–king liberating," saying that coming clean did not produce the dramatic fallout he had feared.
Sheen addresses his long-running battle with addiction and its role in his personal life, writing about attempts to "come to terms" with actions taken while using drugs. He also revisits his public disclosure of living with HIV, which he first made public about a decade ago, and reiterates his statement that he has "never passed it on."
The actor writes about seeking a different chapter in life and says he has been celibate for nearly a decade. He told Page Six that celibacy was a deliberate break from prior behavior and said he remains open to companionship in the future. Sheen was married to Denise Richards from 2002 to 2006; they share daughters Sami and Lola. He later married Brooke Mueller from 2008 to 2011, and they have twin sons.
Sheen’s memoir and the Netflix series explore both the high points of his career and his public fall from favor following highly publicized incidents and legal and medical struggles. The projects document his attempts at recovery and his reflections on how fame, substance use and family dynamics shaped his life.
Fans and critics have reacted to the memoir and documentary with a range of responses, noting the book’s granular personal details and the film’s frank interviews. The material adds to a long history of public revelations from Sheen, whose career has included roles in films such as Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and the television series Two and a Half Men.
Sheen’s memoir was published the day before the Netflix documentary debuted. Both works present the actor’s account of events spanning decades, from early Hollywood roles to struggles with substance use, health disclosures and efforts at rebuilding his life and relationships.