Charlie Sheen said his father, actor Martin Sheen, signed an arrest warrant for him in 1998 after the younger Sheen suffered a stroke following an injected-cocaine overdose and tried to flee rehabilitation — a move the actor called "the biggest betrayal you could possibly endure" in interviews this week tied to a two-part Netflix docuseries and a new memoir.
Sheen revisited the episode on Good Morning America and in Andrew Renzi’s docuseries AKA Charlie Sheen, which premieres Wednesday on Netflix, and in The Book of Sheen: A Memoir, which is due to be published Tuesday. He said he initially viewed his father’s decision as a betrayal but later understood it as an act of love intended to force him into treatment.
According to Sheen’s account, the 1998 incident occurred while he was already on probation related to an alleged assault on a then-girlfriend. After suffering a stroke tied to an injected-cocaine overdose, he attempted to leave rehab and his father, unable to secure his son’s compliance, signed the warrant. Malibu Municipal Court Judge Lawrence Mira chose to extend Sheen’s probation by a year and to "err on the side of rehabilitation," the actor said, rather than send him to jail.
Sheen said his father had previously staged an intervention in 1990, when the actor was 24, and that the family had struggled for decades with his substance use. In the docuseries, he broke down recalling the pain he caused his father and others, saying, "I can't imagine being my dad. I really hurt the people I love."
The documentary includes interviews with several figures from Sheen’s life, including Brooke Mueller, his daughter Lola Sheen, his brother Ramón Estévez, actor Sean Penn, former madam Heidi Fleiss, creators Chuck Lorre and Jon Cryer, comedian Chris Tucker and a former drug dealer identified as Marco. Martin Sheen, older brother Emilio Estévez and Sheen’s estranged daughter Sami Sheen do not appear in the film. Charlie Sheen said he hoped to repair the relationship with Sami, saying he did not fully understand what he should apologize for but expressed faith the rift was not permanent.
In interviews promoting the projects, Sheen also spoke about elements of his personal and medical history that he says informed his substance use. He told interviewers he believes his drinking and drug use were an attempt to counteract a lifelong stutter, saying alcohol "softened the edges" and gave him what he described as "freedom of speech." He said he is nearly eight years sober.
Sheen addressed other chapters of his life in the publicity cycle. On Good Morning America, he said he endured "a tremendous amount of extortion" stemming from blackmailers who sought to silence knowledge of his past sex encounters. He described his 2015 HIV diagnosis as "a tremendous relief" and said he felt "pretty good." The ABC program did not ask about allegations made by actor Corey Feldman that Sheen assaulted Feldman’s late co-star Corey Haim when Haim was 13; Sheen has denied such accusations in the past.
The Netflix documentary’s red carpet premiere drew attention when Sheen posed for photographs with his third ex-wife, Denise Richards, nearly two decades after their divorce. Richards posted on Instagram that the encounter was emotional, writing that the two "looked at each other on the red carpet and just laughed," and calling their shared history "a journey" with "so many ups and downs." She added she was "so proud of him" and honored to be part of his story.
Sheen’s forthcoming memoir and the documentary coincide with a short book tour. He is scheduled to appear at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan to begin a four-date tour Monday evening, according to promotional materials.
Charlie Sheen rose to fame in films such as Platoon, Wall Street, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Hot Shots!, Major League and Scary Movie, and became a television star on series including Spin City, Two and a Half Men and Anger Management. Most recently, he returned briefly to acting with a guest role on the HBO Max series Bookie, a sports-gambling comedy that included a thinly veiled version of himself.
The documentary and memoir revisit decades of public highs and lows for Sheen, presenting his accounts of interventions, relapses and the fallout within his family as he seeks to explain past behavior and describe the state of his life now. The film’s inclusion of some family members and absence of others highlights ongoing fractures even as Sheen says he wants to heal relationships and continue his recovery.
Public reaction to the projects and Sheen’s renewed visibility is likely to focus on the personal revelations and the unresolved questions about accountability, family dynamics and incidents that several people have previously disputed. The documentary and book add new first-person detail to a long-running public story about celebrity, addiction and attempts at reconciliation that have played out in headlines for more than three decades.