Charlie Sheen says he has been celibate for nearly a decade and sober for eight years as he promotes a new memoir and a Netflix documentary that trace his decades-long struggle with substance abuse, a 2011 HIV diagnosis and the public collapse of his sitcom career.
In The Book of Sheen and the film aka Charlie Sheen, the actor recounts a near-fatal cocaine overdose in 1998, seven trips to rehab and a period after his HIV diagnosis when he said he was “hammered” for two years. Sheen described the present as a time of gratitude: he celebrated his 60th birthday with family and said he feels fortunate to be alive to tell his story.
Sheen’s candid accounts include sexual escapades, stints with prostitutes, threesomes and what he now describes as self-destructive behavior that contributed to his downfall. He acknowledges paying for less-regarded films to fund addictions and says he has taken responsibility for the choices that led to legal and personal consequences.
Jon Cryer, Sheen’s former Two and a Half Men co-star, appears in the documentary and says on camera he had “trepidation” about participating. Cryer described a recurring pattern in Sheen’s life: spectacular mistakes followed by recuperation and then a relapse. “I’m not here to build him up and I’m not here to tear him down, but I sure hope this doesn’t go bad,” Cryer said in the film. Sheen called Cryer’s remarks “incredibly insightful,” and said he would have welcomed the honesty earlier in his career.
The documentary and memoir revisit the notorious 2011 period when production on Two and a Half Men halted for Sheen to enter rehab. On his return, Sheen publicly criticized the show’s creator and network, a sequence of events that culminated in his firing. Media coverage from that time included interviews in which he made outlandish claims, including that he had “tiger blood” and described himself as a “Vatican assassin warlock.”
Sheen writes that his HIV is well managed and says he was rushed to the hospital with severe headaches before learning of the diagnosis. He described spending the following years in Mexico in a highly intoxicated state. He also recounts friendships with fellow actors who battled addiction: he says he and the late Matthew Perry shared a bond as “veterans of the unspeakable,” and that he attended a support group Perry hosted.
Sheen told interviewers he never used ketamine, the drug implicated in Perry’s fatal overdose in October 2023. “I never did it,” Sheen said, noting he had seen acquaintances use it but that it was not for him.
The memoir addresses Sheen’s relationships and family life. He writes about losing his virginity at 15 to a Las Vegas sex worker and details marriages and partnerships, including unions with Denise Richards and Brooke Mueller, and a brief marriage to Donna Peele. Richards appears in the documentary and accompanied Sheen to the premiere. Sheen said he remains on good terms with some former partners and that custody disputes from his marriage to Mueller affected their twin sons, Bob and Max.
He also discloses a rift with his daughter Sami, saying they have not spoken for a year after disagreeing over her career as an OnlyFans creator. Sheen said the silence saddens him but that he is hopeful about repairing family relationships once lines of communication reopen.
Sheen has framed the new work as a personal accounting. “One of the running themes in the book is that it is really all about choices,” he said, adding that he resisted portraying himself as a victim. He described the memoir as the story of “a little kid just trying to find his way back home,” and said he hopes readers can relate to that search.
On his current plans, Sheen said he has not been romantically involved since achieving sobriety and that he views celibacy as a deliberate break rather than a permanent end to intimacy. He said he is open to companionship in the future and that he has been reading scripts and “the best material that I’ve read in 20 years.”
The Book of Sheen is being published as aka Charlie Sheen debuts on Netflix. Both projects revisit well-documented highs and lows: breakout film roles in the 1980s, blockbuster television success and public scandals that spurred legal action, rehab and highly publicized family disputes. The memoir and documentary place those episodes in a broader narrative of recovery and responsibility, with Sheen emphasizing choice and accountability as central themes.
Representatives for Sheen did not immediately respond to requests for further comment.