Charlie Sheen says he had sexual encounters with men while using crack, revelations the actor made public as he promotes an upcoming memoir and a Netflix docuseries that examine his private life and career.
Sheen, 60, disclosed the admissions in interviews tied to the release of his book, The Book of Sheen, and the docuseries Aka Charlie Sheen, which premiered Thursday in Los Angeles. Ex-wife Denise Richards attended the premiere in a show of support, according to People.
In a conversation with People, Sheen said he "flipped the menu over" in describing the moment he decided to have sexual encounters with members of the same sex. He added, "I'm not going to run from my past, or let it own me," and said the episodes occurred while he was using crack.
"That's what started it," Sheen told the publication. "That’s where it was born, or sparked. And in whatever chunks of time that I was off the pipe, trying to navigate that, trying to come to terms with it — 'Where did that come from?… Why did that happen?' — and then just finally being like, 'So what?' So what? Some of it was weird. A lot of it was f**king fun. And life goes on.'"
The comments are part of broader personal disclosures in the actor's forthcoming projects, which revisit decades of public incidents and private struggles. Sheen has previously been open about battles with substance abuse and the series and book aim to present his account of those experiences.
Aka Charlie Sheen is being distributed by Netflix and the book publisher has billed The Book of Sheen as a candid memoir; both are intended to chronicle Sheen's life, including his work in film and television and his off-screen controversies. In promoting the projects, Sheen framed his revelations as a way of confronting and moving past episodes that have attracted tabloid attention and public scrutiny over the years.
Representatives for Sheen did not provide additional comment beyond the published interview. The actor's choice to address his past encounters and substance use publicly marks a prominent moment in the release cycle for both the book and the series, and the disclosures are likely to draw renewed media attention as both projects reach wider audiences.
Sheen's statements in People provide a first-person recounting of episodes he said were tied to drug use, and he characterized them as part of his personal history that he does not intend to let define him going forward. The book and series will offer fuller context for those statements when they become widely available.