Denise Richards has given her first interview since the news of the protracted custody battle over Charlie Sheen’s four year-old twins, Max and Bob, with Charlie’s ex, Brooke Mueller. I’m surprised it took Denise this long, and it just makes it seem all the more genuine. Denise has been more than admirable in taking Charlie’s boys into her home, in dealing with their behavioral problems, and in making the hard decision to let them go back to their addict mom when she feared for her own daughter’s safety. Let’s not pretend that Denise doesn’t love publicity, but when it comes to this serious matter she didn’t want it to get out, she took her time talking about it, and you can tell she’s devastated. Denise told Entertainment Tonight that she never meant for her letter to the Department of Child and Family Services, in which she detailed how the boys were abusive to her daughters and pets, to go public. You could see the sadness in her eyes and she seemed very honest about it. She said she was “embarrassed” and “sick about it” and questioned whether she should have written the letter, which she never meant to become public.
Denise doesn’t know who leaked her letter, which went out to just a handful of people, although she has her suspicions. She said “it’s a shame” it got out and that the publicity affects the boys and her daughters. She was also very mature when talking about her relationship with Charlie, as she’s always been.
On the custody battle
The hardest thing was that it was so public. It was something that could have been dealt with privately. That’s the thing because these are minors, these are kids.On the letter being leaked
I was sick about it. I couldn’t really look at anything. I was angry… I stopped and had to [remember] what did I write in that? It was such a personal thing. I was sick about it and then I thought “maybe I should have done it differently.” It wasn’t a court document, it wasn’t a declaration. I purposefully went that way to write something personal as a mom… I was very upset that something like that would become public.It’s a shame because it ultimately affects the children.
On her relationship with Charlie
I don’t want a toxic relationship with him. That’s not to say we [don’t] have our little moments… but we get past it the next day. It’s important for the kids, it’s not their fault to deal with parents who are mudslinging and fighting and can’t be in the same room. I just don’t think that’s healthy for anyone. We live down the street now, we can walk to dad’s house. It makes it odd to everyone else, but it works for us.
Charlie totally leaked that letter to make Brooke look bad, right? For legal reasons Denise couldn’t talk about the current custody arrangement. From what we know, the boys are with Brooke and Brooke’s brother, who has been appointed their temporary legal guardian.
Denise Richards has impressed me for years and this interview was no exception. She’s a classy lady, and more than Charlie ever deserved. I just hope those little boys are ok now that they’re back with their mom.
Denise is shown on Extra in June and out with the boys and her daughters in July. Credit: WENN.com and FameFlynet
I am now a fan of hers!
me too!
Love. Her.
Do you think she’s someone who improved with motherhood? I have no idea what she was like previously, other than she was supposed to be high-maintenance? Perhaps she’s one of those women that for things about her, she’s a pain in the ass, but the moment kids are involved she’s utterly selfless?
Leann Rimes should take note.
Yes, I do think she’s someone who really came into herself.
I watched her reality show, and I think she’s just one of those people who didn’t have much of a filter and liked the “f” word a lot. That can come of charming or trashy. I think she’s probably always been a good person, and she obviously had a healthy relationship with her parents and sister. In this interview, she comes off more well spoken and intelligent than I’ve ever heard before.
leaking that letter or not was not the catalyst in making Brooke look bad. She does a great job of making herself look bad with no ones help.
She continues to impress me. I am a huge fan of how she has handled herself publicly the last few years. Very classy!
Denise seems to be the one person who genuinely has the boys’ best interest at heart. This whole mess has clearly taken a toll on her.
I agree, she ‘s the voice of reason in this insane situation.
Agree. If Charlie would straighten up and not go all tiger blood on people, I could give him a little more credit.
Nobody could blame her. She went beyond what she needed to, and got burned. She’s correct, at the end of the day it’s about the boys. I’m so sad because I feel that Denise was their last hope. I believe her intentions were pure and my admiration towards her is huge.
Same here. I never really had an opinion of her before, but in the last few months I’ve really grown to respect and admire her. This is such an ugly situation, and it sounds like she truly wants to do the best thing for the boys.
The fact that these children are not hers but that she took care of them speaks volumes about Denise. She was not in it for $ she was trying to do her best, as a mother, to help these poor boys. Brooke Mueller is disgusting. At least Sheen knows he is incapable of being a good parent, it doesn’t excuse him for not wanting to be one and changing his life but at least he is not going to harm them on a daily basis like that rich trash, Mueller. I also blame Mueller’s enabling family for allowing this to continue. They have the means to help this situation BUT feel Sheen should foot all bills for their dsughter/sister. Brooke will continue to play sober until she gets comfortable then it will be more of the same.
Denise did all she could do. It is out of her hands and she should know people really think highly of her fir her attempts at helping those boys without a price tag on it.
I truly hope he gets or has gotten a vasectomy. He does not need to be reproducing.
” I don’t want a toxic relationship with him. That’s not to say we [don’t] have our little moments… but we get past it the next day. It’s important for the kids, it’s not their fault to deal with parents who are mudslinging and fighting and can’t be in the same room. I just don’t think that’s healthy for anyone”
A mature woman and a loving mother who puts the happiness of her kids before her own petty sh*t.
Classy and refreshing to say the least.
Completely agree with you, it’s the way it should be. She reminds me a bit of my mom in this situation. No matter how sh-tty my dad was, my mom never said an unkind or disparaging word about him, ever. I respect the hell outta that..
Wow..your mom impresses me.
I think it would be incredibly hard to refrain, but ultimately it’s best to take the high road. I honestly think it’s not only better for the kids, but better for the mother too in the sense that relinquishing the anger is helpful in moving on.
I wonder of your mom just trained herself to view your dad as The Kids’ Father instead of My Ex-Husband (assuming your parents got divorced).
Blue Marie – I sure wish your Ma and Denise would give classes. I would enroll no matter the tuition. Classy ladies, for sure.
Your mother is a saint and sounds like an excellent role model.
Thank you guys, she really is something special. I do consider myself very lucky to have a role model like her. I did ask her once why she never tried to sway our perception of him (he was not a great dad) and she said she simply refused to be the reason we didn’t have a healthy relationship with him.
Both my parents took the high road after their very difficult divorce and it is something I have appreciated and admired. My mother never wanted to undermine my relationship with my father, and he was fully capable of screwing up without her piling on anyway.
Why do the interview in the first place if it’s a private matter?
The letter was made public. Mueller made this public so why not clear up some things from her perspective. Richards made none of this public. She simply cared for two children who disrupted her own life and the lives of her children in order to do the right thing.
Denise seems like an amazing mother.
It is truly sad that those poor little boys don’t get to stay with her.
Shame, shame, shame.
I used to really dislike her but then I watched her short lived reality show and I found out that she was not so bad after all. She loves her daughters, her father and her pets completely and would fight to the death for them I believe. She wants what’s best for them and NOT her. And that makes her one of the best moms in Hollywood in my book. Poor Bob and Max are going to miss out on that love thanks to their mother who use her children like a cash register.
I actually enjoyed her reality show. She seems sweet and her dad is an awesome man and it is lovely to see how much they all love each other in that household.
IKR she totally won me over during that time and have been a fan of hers ever since.
So all the prior bad opinion of her was based on whatever came out of Charlie’s mouth at the time? I remember reading scathing stories in People magazine about their relationship and thought, well, where’s there’s smoke there’s fire – but now that we all know the real Charlie, in hindsight everyone should’ve just ignored him and his BS.
I’m not being sarcastic here: she has certainly grown and matured and her priorities have shifted from the days when she was throwing laptops out of windows and dating her friend’s newly separated from husband.
Oh yeah, she took a lot of heat for the Ritchie Sambora thing.
It just goes to show you never really do know. Even when you think you do
(Wink wink)
I can’t tell I’m a fan of hers (don’t care about her as an actress), but I have a great respect for her. I hope things will get better for her and her children. And I’m praying Brooke’s boys will get a way, way better chance 🙁
of course Charlie leaked the letter. It´s no secret that Charlie gives all the weird stories to tmz and radar.
How i hate him, he never thought how this public stories hurt his kids. Everyone known now that they have mental problems. People call them little murders and future drug addicts. All Charlie wanted was to destroy the troubled Brooke. His boys are just war victims for him. Such an asshole.
“Troubled Brooke” is an abusive drug addict in her own right who is doing more than her fair share to destroy those kids. I think she is more interested in the $55K Charlie forks over in child support every month than she is in those children. They’re both reprehensible, selfish people who don’t deserve their kids.
I don’t know if I’d be that severe about Charlie. Yeah, he’s a nutjob of epic proportions, but I do think he loves is kids and perhaps he leaked the email because the kids were being gradually reintroduced to Brooke, who was refusing to get them help, so he did what he could.
That’s my Pollyanna view of it anyways.
This situation is so sad and sickening and doesn’t belong in the public eye. I have stopped reading anything about it out of principle and am angry at myself for having clicked on this and read it. Child protective services cases should not be treated like entertainment. Poor kids …
I think it should be in the public eye in one sense, the interests of these poor boys. Since both parents have huge issues it’s on the State to step in and ensure these boys best interests are seen to and unfortunately that has to be done within the courts and the legal system and therefore in the public eye.
My heart goes out to Denise and the kids.
She is more than Charlie deserves but at least Charlie knows that now and respects her for it (and pays her accordingly)
This was so much for her to handle alone and she did it with finesse. I hope she can take a long nap because she looks tired. Poor thing had been through the ringer. I truly hope that Brooke will do right by her boys. I don’t think Denise should feel bad or guilty at all. She did the right thing consistently IMO.
I don’t understand why these children aren’t with an impartial foster family trained and experienced in dealing with such violent, troubled children. All due respect to Denise, but this would have been the best placement initially, and hopefully would become a permanent placement. Visitation with either of these ‘parents’ should be very limited, brief, and supervised at all times. These boys would be better off with a pack of hyenas than being anywhere near their ‘mom.’
I’m impressed too, and think she has done a great and generous job with these kids, but boy am I amazed at how she has rehabilitated her image. This is night and day from the post divorce Denise who called Charlie’s sperm “prostitute-tranny infected” (lol, in fairness that may be an accurate description!) It was considered at the time to be one of Hollywood’s nastiest divorces. I commend them for turning it around, I would find it tough to get past some of the mud slinging that was done.
http://hollywoodlife.com/2009/12/26/is-charlie-sheen-about-to-relive-his-nasty-divorce-from-denise-richards/
Very few, next to no, ex wives would take on such a load, but if there are serious issues, she needs to look after the interests of her own children first. It’s time Charlie got his stuff together.
I’m a little curious as to why Charlie’s family isn’t more involved with these kids?
I used to think Charlie looked wholesome with Denise. Now I just see the skeeve. Off topic I know. Denise definitely took the high road. Very admirable. Saw brief mention somewhere that Martin sheen was trying to get Emilio to apply for custody of the boys. Anyone else hear that?
Yeah, Charlie has been rather counterproductive. But my guess is that he’s really worried about the twins and is very frustrated that he has zero control over the situation. I think he has a lot of respect now for Denise and is grateful that she’s made it possible for him to have some kind of relationship with his daughters. Denise keeps him on a very short leash around the girls, but even he must know that’s necessary. He has a lot of limitations.