Charlie Sheen brings in highest ratings for 20/20 in 2 years, is a twitter phenomenon

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Charlie Sheen’s 20/20 episode was watched by over 9 million people, drawing in the highest ratings for the show in two years. As we mentioned yesterday, a rerun of Two and a Half Men Monday night was the highest rated show of the evening on any network. On 20/20 Sheen was bragging that he exposes “people to magic, I expose them to something they’re otherwise never going to see in their boring normal lives.” That’s true for me, I’ve never witnessed the insane ravings of an addict like this before and for that I consider myself lucky. I’ve seen people wandering around the street muttering to themselves, but I’ve never paid attention.

Sheen is now on Twitter, having joined on Tuesday night. I’m impressed that he’s only Tweeted a single page and that he seems to grasp the nuances of Twitter. One of his “goddesses,” stage name Bree Olsen, is also on Twitter and may have taught him the ropes. He has over a million followers already.

Donald Trump recently sung Charlie’s praises. He called him a “winner” and said “I think they are going to end up signing him for a lot more money then he was getting paid in the first place. It’s all about ratings in this crazy business and if you have ratings you can be the worst person in the world but they will sign you.”

Charlie may not be the worst person in the world, but he sure is a scary, abusive SOB when he’s not bragging about how evolved and different he is than the rest of us relatively sober peons. In Brooke Mueller’s declaration to the court requesting a restraining order, she detailed an incident in October, 2009, in which he pushed her, causing her to hit her head on a couch and to black out. She went to the hospital afterwards and has photos, witnesses and a written apology from Charlie. This happened prior to the Christmas 2009 incident in which Charlie choked Brooke, held a knife to her throat for 20 minutes and threatened to kill her. Of course Charlie claims he’s never hit a woman, which could technically be true. Shooting, choking, pushing and threatening to send someone’s head to them in a box are not “hitting.”

Brooke also has an anti-semitic text message that Charlie sent her in which he calls his manager a “stoopid jew pig” and says he “must execute” him. Charlie claims that Brooke framed him by taking control of his phone and sending herself the message, meanwhile Brooke has an alibi and was filming a reality show with Paris Hilton that day.

Brooke admitted in her court declaration to doing drugs with Charlie during their brief reconciliation a couple of weeks ago. (See this picture.) She claims to be working on staying sober and is in day treatment (again) now that she’s retained custody of the children. Charlie is of course using this to try and smear Brooke. A new article in US Weekly claims the twins are in “a really bad situation” and that “Brooke is just as bad as Charlie.” She’s obviously an addict too, but I find it hard to believe that she’s even marginally close to being as whacked out as Charlie, or that the twins are worse off with their grandmother, Brooke’s mom, than they were with a couple of porn stars.

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56 Responses to “Charlie Sheen brings in highest ratings for 20/20 in 2 years, is a twitter phenomenon”

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  1. searching4grace says:

    I’ve been trying to avoid everything Charlie Sheen. I never watched his show, and the last movie i saw him in was probably major league baseball. So that last picture shocked the heck out of me. He looks old, and miserable. Maybe they should have him play scrooge this year at christmas. Or the the third ghost, because he is skeletal and frightening. *shudders*

  2. almond says:

    This thing is reaching epic proportions. And I just can’t look away. It’s worse than a car crash.

  3. brin says:

    I hope Trump is wrong but let’s face it, bad behavior equals good ratings…it’s a shame how bad behavior is rewarded in show biz.
    Wish Charlie the drug addict would teach Leann the twitter addict the “nuances of twitter”…lol.

  4. His poor poor family, bad when these things happen behind closed doors, but for his situation to be broadcast to the world and for us all [me included] to tune in in our droves to see it? Maybe that is what reality show culture has done to us all..

  5. YT says:

    Scary, disgusting man. Too bad the media is adding to the mess. Sad to know there are a million people on Twitter reading his trainwreck rants since it encourages him. How many actually care?

  6. Shay says:

    I can’t believe that these people breed. There has been plenty of evidence indicating that alcoholism can be inherited, yet Sheen reproduces like a rabbit. It will be interesting to see how his children do indeed turn out.
    We only have to look at Martin Sheen,who is a former alcoholic (but alcoholics are always alcoholics), then there is Charlie, and it seems like it is worse with each generation.
    So who knows? Charlies kids may end up making him look like Santa Clause twenty years from now. After all, isn’t Brooke Mueller herself an addict?
    Sure, it’s not PC to say it, but they should, from this point on, use birth control.

  7. Flan says:

    A sure sign of the increasing sexism is that people like this are being regarded as underdog heroes by some.

    Disgusting.

  8. Zelda says:

    Behold, one of the most fantastically off-the-mark essays I have ever read, about how Charlie Sheen is an uber-masculine ideal, a cult hero:
    http://guyism.com/celebrities/why-charlie-sheen-is-a-hero-to-men.html

    This guy misses the trainwreck aspect completely. I suspect he has a very small penis.

  9. Zelda says:

    @Shay.
    Yeah. Because alcoholics have no value as humans.
    Your ideas aren’t un-PC. They are disgusting at a basic moral level. But you might be very interested in others who agree with you:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_eugenics

  10. JQ says:

    Radar Online has some photos that Charlie and his goddesses took as proof of Brooke using drugs while in the Bahamas and hence cited it as the reason they sent her on her way. Charlie is certainly in no place to be caring for his kids right now but neither is Brooke. It’s pot calling kettle black all day and night with these two. Someone with some sense needs to give these children a stable environment until Charlie and Brooke both clean up their acts for good.

  11. Quest says:

    Charlie is in his own little world there was an interview with him and one of his “princesses” and it was so morbid.

    He keeps comming up with “he’s winning” crap – winning at what? Ruining his life and all those around him. Everything in Charlie’s life is crumbling around him and sooner than later he is gonna take down everyone around him.

    His health is declining, he looks awful, acts awful and is a ticking time bomb at this moment

  12. Isa says:

    The score board doesn’t lie….

  13. samihami says:

    I worked in a psychiatric hospital for a few months. He is WORSE than most of the patients I saw there.

  14. YT says:

    How is he a winner? Is it because he who dies with the most toys wins? His choice.

  15. flourpot says:

    Ok, lets all say it together now. Scumbag!

  16. LindaR says:

    Well. First of all, I’d like to say how much I love my boring life with my normal children that have grown up to be productive, contributing adults. And then there’s my ability to get through a day without medicating myself with illegal drugs. Yes, it is all so boring. (yawn)

    The ratings were up because everyone loves to drive slowly by a disaster and see if there are any dead bodies. Not yet, but there might be soon. Something’s going to happen and I think it will be epic. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

  17. devilgirl says:

    He’s got tiger’s blood.

    Nuff said.

  18. tapioca says:

    @ Zelda: “Because alcoholics have no value as humans.
    Your ideas aren’t un-PC. They are disgusting at a basic moral level.”

    Yay for people unable to look after themselves looking after small children!! Three cheers for Foetal Alcohol Syndrome!! Give that barely-functioning crack ho back her bubba!! There’s a pretty big difference between gassing Jews & forcibly sterilising people and suggesting that Charlie Sheen should get the snip because he’s a lousy father. If someone wants to slowly poison themselves, fine, but they shouldn’t be allowed to drag innocents down with them, which is exactly what he’s doing.

  19. Crash2GO2 says:

    I’m with LindaR. Car wreck rubbernecking syndrome going on here. It’s so awful no one can look away. I can only hope his crash and burn will serve as a cautionary tale.

    And to those saying the children would be better off with Martin, as long as Brooke shows signs of acknowledging her issues and taking steps to rectify her situation, the courts will leave the boys with her as she is their biological mother. And thank God, her family is willing to step up to the plate and take care of the boys while she is in rehab. I’m pulling for her if only for the sake of those precious little guys.

  20. Roma says:

    The only reason Brooke went with Charlie is because of the free drugs.

    This is getting epically bad and no longer makes me so completely grateful that I never made enough money to develop a serious coke habit.

  21. Jackson says:

    It’s disgusting that he’s getting so much airtime. I hope he hits bottom soon and goes for a nice long rehab somewhere – with no cameras, interviews, radio call-ins, twitter….

  22. Marie says:

    I can’t come up with a cohernt sentence to write about these two, because they piss me off so bad!

  23. Just Me says:

    Charlie has ‘Tiger Blood, Adonis DNA and a Motor Mouth!
    Wonder if Charlie and his *oddesses
    set her up?

  24. Jen says:

    “I think they are going to end up signing him for a lot more money then he was getting paid in the first place.” I hate it when the word ‘then’ is used where the word ‘than’ should be.

    And yeah, this guy is bonkers and I’m not sure he can come back at this point, even if he quits using drugs.

  25. LisaMarie says:

    This is disgusting and sad. Charlie Sheen is committing suicide and everyone is standing around and cheering him on for it. Disgusting, disgusting, disgusting.

  26. Jazz says:

    I just can’t with this asshole.

  27. lucy2 says:

    The other day Donald Trump was hinting that he wants to run for President. If he thinks Charlie Sheen is a winner, I shudder to think of him in any position of power.

  28. DetRiotgirl says:

    @Zelda man, that article you linked to really pisses me off. It’s truly sad to see how many men out there are viewing Charlie as some kind of folk hero.

    I see myself as something of a student of pop culture. I keep up with a lot of entertainment blogs because I tend to think the way the public reacts to stories like this one gives a good indication of what society in general is like. This story in particular has really made me question my faith in humanity though. I’ve seen comments all over the place that agree with the article Zelda linked to, and it’s so sad.

    For years, I’ve objected when women make blanket statements about men such as “all men want is sex” or “all men cheat” or any other such statement that drags men down to the base level of neanderthals who use their genitals as road compasses and who have no free will or ability to make their own choices. I believe that men are just as complex as women, and I would like to give them more credit than all the dating advice books and women’s magazines would have you believe.

    Furthermore, I think there are plenty of women out there who only want sex, or who cheat, or who do any of the other things that we women seem to dump on men as being solely male traits. Basically, I just don’t think either gender has an inherently higher set of moral standards than the other.

    But, then I see the reaction to a story like this. You would not believe how many comments I’ve seen on other sites from men saying things like “He’s right. He’s just paying to eliminate the small talk and the cuddling. Who wants a women to talk?” or “Women just hate Charlie because he’s living the dream and won’t conform to their feminist PC BS.” Well, at least I would hope the people saying those things are men. I would hate to think that a woman could have so much self loathing to say something like that.

    I cannot help but question how we got to this point. Is it because porn has become so mainstream during my life that people are now more willing to view women as disposable sex objects than in previous generations? Since the invention of the internet, the availability of porn has boomed. The women portrayed in those movies tend to have fake body parts and are usually treated as being nothing more than cum dumpsters. Has a lifetime of exposure to that made some men unsatisfied with real women with real opinions?

    As the number of children who grow up without a father rises, are men starting to feel that they have no responsibilities in relationships with women? Having no example as children to look to of how a women should be treated, are some men taking this as sign that it’s ok to hump and dump? Are these men merely emulating what they know of their fathers?

    Has our country’s current climate of finding a medical reason for unexcusable behavior created an entire culture of people who think it’s ok to play fast and loose with their personal lives because they can later blame some kind of addiction or mental illness? In today’s age of sending everyone to rehab for every little thing, it’s almost as if we’ve forgotten that sometimes people are just a**holes. Have we created a culture that says “we have a pill for that!” or “we have a expensive spa retreat for that!” or “we have an intensive therapy for that!” too often?

    Are the men who think Charlie is some kind of God all working with tiny penises? Is the correct word “peni”?

    Personally, I don’t know the answers to any of these questions. I just like to analyze things.

    Also, I’m sorry if any of the questions I posed offend anyone. I in no way think that porn is inherently evil, or that men who grow up without fathers will all be jerks, or that mentall illness is not real. I’m just trying to comprehend why Charlie seems to have so much support on more male-centric blogs.

    I also apologize for the length of my post. I didn’t realize how much I’d written until just now!

  29. Hollowdoll says:

    I used to like him years ago but now he makes me sick. He’s a pompous ass who has totally lost touch with reality. This is just the beginning. I think it will get worse and worse.

  30. Marjalane says:

    No, No, No. Just No. If Charlie Sheen is rewarded with more money and a free ride back into the CBS studios, I will spend a portion of my day organizing boycotts of every sponser CBS has. Pathetic, I know, but at some point America has to regain some self esteem. As for The Donald- what an asswipe. He’s such a sorry excuse for a man, he makes a President Palin sound good.

  31. Kiska says:

    If I had to spend an few minutes with his delusions of grandeur, I’d get a migraine and need to vacate the room pronto.

    What the guy needs is anti-psych meds.

  32. Jilly says:

    Boy, is he on a run or what! If he does not end up killing himself, he may actually get sober again, however, with all the money in the world and people to entertain his ego, it may be hard to hit bottom. Oh well, he’s got his own path to live out and who am I to judge what makes another person happy! Having close family memebers who are addicts, I go to al anon. It is the only place I know that allows me peace regardless of how someone else is living their life. Ultimately, it really is none of my business and my job is to love and support tthe addict no matter what. Addiction is a disease and when I see someone close to me ruin their life with drugs and alcohol, I am grateful to realize that I have no control over what they do and that as the addicts disease progresses, death is a reality just like as a cancer progresses. I feel for his family and friends and hope they can find compassion for him despite his actions

  33. John Wayne Lives says:

    @Jazz …yeah. ehh,god.
    @DetRiotGirl…. well said. Regaining our dignity as a nation…well said.

    Now excuse me while I go back to my normal, boring life. I believe I have a story to read to a smiling little boy. Yes, boring. I mean who wants to have a loving, meaningful relationship with their children? Jesus I’m such a loser!

  34. Judy says:

    He’s a trainwreck, but there’s something about him I can’t help liking. That said, I think he’s going to be dead very soon.

  35. funny_girl says:

    this guy has always been a disaster..martin sheens tried to get clean loads of times but finally has had to throw his hat at it. People like watching train wrecks, the voyeurisitic appeal of it all but his problems have gone in for years. This is nothing new only its gotten progressively worse

  36. original kate says:

    “This guy misses the trainwreck aspect completely. I suspect he has a very small penis.”

    @ zelda – i agree. i also think this guy has only ever had sex with blow-up dolls and thus has no idea what most women consider a real man to be. and to compare charlie sheen to the supremely talented keith richards? um, no. just no.

  37. Bohemia says:

    how the world has sunk! he’s like a zoo animal now for all that attention he’s getting. Problem is: he thinks he’s fab!
    actually though, he has said some of the funniest things i’ve ever heard in a while! lol!

  38. becky says:

    @ZELDA
    regarding the comment at shay: YES! I was like, dr. Mengele, anyone? should we give people w propensity for obesity birth control too? u know, obesity costs the govt lots of $….

  39. the original bellaluna says:

    I am so saddened to say this, but sometime during the night, I woke with the certainty that I would hear the news CS is dead.

    Since I’ve not seen that news yet, I’m hoping it was just a pre-bedtime bourbon and chicken-cheese enchilada nightmare. But I doubt it. If not today, perhaps tomorrow or next week. He really does not look well.

    And I’m trying to be as diplomatic as possible, because he’s gone from mildly entertaining to totally off the deep-end.

  40. jjbean says:

    At this point is anyone looking past basic addiction and more seriously at mental illness? There is a strong link to mental illness and drug and alcohol abuse. Many mentally ill people self medicate with drugs. Addiction makes people do strange things, but it does not necessarily account for the bizarre behavior we are seeing, especially if drug tests prove (with reasonable doubt) that he is not strung out while actually giving the interviews.

    Many mentally ill people get a feeling of euphoria when they are totally unmedicated, until the dark periods hit.. With his delusions of grandeur, his paranoia, feelings of persecution, manic mood swings and complete disconnect from others in society, don’t you guys feel that there is reasonable evidence that the guy may have a disorder beyond just addiction?

    Quick search popped up this on link between drugs and mental illness:
    http://www.justice.gov/ndic/pubs7/7343/index.htm

    Of course, being mentally ill will not cause you to be a self-important jerk. He gets credit for that all by himself.

  41. The Truth Fairy says:

    Some people, despite all efforts to the contrary, are just likable.

  42. e says:

    I LOVE HIM! always have. And, hey they created that show around him so why are they complaining. He’s stayed true to the character, HIMSELF! You are a “rockstar”, Charlie and I love you and I’m rooting for you. You’ll do fine.

  43. hellen says:

    Only proves one sad thing: everybody loves watching a train wreck.

  44. DrM says:

    The man’s brain appears to be completed addled from years and years of drug abuse. Drug induced psychosis anyone? He looks horrendous…like a puff of wind could blow him away…

  45. Feebee says:

    Somebody commented on a previous CS story that they essentially really disappointed 20/20 had stooped so low.

    This is why. People want to watch this story.

    As for Trump’s comment – he should know. He’s another egotistical maniac, though not manic like Sheen, and NBC give him $$$ to be on TV too. Yes you can be a asshole with a highly lucrative TV career, people love assholes.

  46. Chickadees4me says:

    With the likes of CS, Trump and the like being touted as ‘winners’ it makes me wanna vomit. Do the world a favour and just crawl back into your caves a$$holes.

  47. Jelli says:

    @DetRiotGirl – very well written post, I agree with you 100%. It is hard to not blanket all men with that toxic brush. Assholes always have the loudest mouths eh?

  48. Zelda says:

    @tapioca
    Shay didn’t suggest that Charlie Sheen get snipped. She suggested that since alcoholism is apparently genetic that alcoholics should not be permitted to “breed”. Which is insane. You cannot argue that people with certain genetic patterns should be kept from procreation. Should schizophrenics be sterilized? That’s genetic, and some schizophrenics are violent. The mentally handicapped, since one would argue that they would need help parenting? How about people with lower incomes, since children raised in lower income households are more likely to turn to violent crime?
    No, no it is NEVER okay to suggest sterilization of a group of people based on their genetic inheritances. Or any group of people for that matter. It’s f*cked.

  49. Ally says:

    People who are amused by the Charlie Sheen spectacle remind me of those incidents where people watch someone commit suicide online.

    In terms of this debacle and modern technology, I feel like the internet, Twitter, YouTube etc. have brought greater accountability for all public figures. Things don’t disappear down the memory sinkhole if media types don’t want to talk about them; people can do that directly with each other, without waiting for People or 60 Minutes to cover it, or cover it fully and honestly.

    For instance, it’s clear from this 1994 Movieline interview:
    http://www.movieline.com/1994/09/charlies-devils.php?page=1
    …that Charlie Sheen was a jacka$$ and a jerk from about age 15, and well into his ‘grownup’ movie career, yet it is only now that he is finally facing any accountability for his years of misogyny and abuse of women.

    So yay, internet, but let’s not get into rubbernecking his addiction and possible breakdown. I would just like for guys like this to get some correction instead of nothing but rewards, before they reach the OJ Simpson or Phil Spector stage of relating to women.

  50. Patricia says:

    I know some people may disagree with my opinion on this but I have got to comment on that TV screen banner that is making me flipping crazy(Martin Sheen – “addiction is a form of cancer”)…

    Addiction is not a form of cancer — it is a CHOICE. Stop pretending this was not within Charlie’s control and insulting cancer patients everywhere.

    Addictiveness can certainly be genetic but abusing drugs and alcohol and becoming an addict is a CHOICE made repeatedly until you are addicted or “chemically dependent”.

    My family has chemical dependency running rampant on all sides. So guess what? I don’t drink – problem solved. And no – I never even had to hit bottom or go to AA. Is it difficult? yes – Am I tempted? yes – But I know dealing with that is easier than being an addict. Am I perfect in all ways? No – but I will never be an addict despite my overwhelming genetic predisposition. Addicition is something I know I can control – it is my CHOICE. No matter how bad life gets being an addict only makes it worse. And I have had far more traumatizing events in my life than Charlie has.

    In the end the addict made the choices that got him/her to that point and there is nothing and no one to blame (including medical science) but the addict when it all goes horribly wrong.

    Take note Lindsay and Christina – it is just not that f-ing difficult. Try going to therapy rather than the liquor store – it works wonders.

  51. GimmeABreak says:

    DUUUHHH!!

  52. Gabriela says:

    He looks like hell!

    BTW, is being anti-semitic fashionable in Hollywood now? Wow.

  53. Mingo says:

    WINNING!?

  54. truthzbetta says:

    Detriotgirl

    Something is rotten in Denmark, that’s for sure. I don’t know if it’s the disposable women and the new way porn animalizes sex like some degrading past or what, but the point that so many Trumps and nasty, scummy dudes on the interwebs think this is great is strange.

    Why do the Johns and Charlies also beat up the whores? And why are the whores whores? So many mysteries, so few brain cells. And now I can’t look away either so Anna Nicole II here we go.

  55. Jill Feyka says:

    You know, I decided to do a psychic reading on Sheen yesterday after having an unpleasant dream the night prior and boy, it’s not looking good for him – seriously. I won’t go into details here, but visit my blog: jillfeyka@wordpress, or you can see the two part video I posted on the reading via youtube: my channels is creativeendeavor635. Sad part about this is he does have the ability to get help (financially), but does not see things clearly at all. I’m not happy with what I saw long-term, but hopefully he will change.

  56. Michael A says:

    Charlie Sheen has set back Parents
    a hundred years.

    His actions are telling young people
    DO DRUGS , DRINK , PARTY WITH WHORES
    AND ACT LIKE A COMPLETE ASSHOLE
    (VIOLENTLY)

    And that makes you a winner.
    the real SAD part is both his Dad and siblings are so nice, and those kids of Charlies..wow this is why People hate us in other parts of the world.

    CHARLIE NEEDS TO SHUT UP ONCE AND FOR ALL. IF NOT FOR ME AT LEAST FOR THE KIDS..DONT DO DRUGS YOU WILL LOOK LIKE THIS AT 45.