Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards were co-stars on the film Good Advice when they met and she thought he was the one on their second date.
Sometimes, people end up judging both halves of a couple based on the actions of one of them. It can leave a lasting impression on others and in extreme cases, ruin the innocent one's reputation for good. When you are with a problematic partner, it can also be a task to protect your children from your partner, who is likely going down a destructive path. Many moms have had to make the tough call of leaving a bad partner and hiding the truth from their kids.
Actress Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen, 54, were married for only three years but their connection has lasted until now since they have two kids together. This bond that they have hasn't always been a good one. In fact, they spent most of the time arguing over child support because Sheen seems to have squandered his money away, according to Richards.
Richards, 49, revealed on an episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills that their relationship was not the wild one that people thought it was just because of Sheen's lifestyle which later came to light. "A lot of people have an impression of me being wild and crazy,” she said, as per Pagesix. "But Charlie was sober when we got married so we were not ...like people might assume. We weren’t." Sheen wanted to "bleed her dry" and he did do that because those "legal fees add up quite fast," Richards claimed, as per Daddy Issues podcast. Along with that, being associated with him cost her many jobs.
The former couple met while filming Good Advice in 2000, according to Women's Health, but they didn't feel immediately attracted to each other. She later guest-starred on Spin City in 2001 and that's when they began dating. For Denise, it took only two dates to know that he was "the one" and by the end of 2001 they were engaged. The couple tied the knot in 2002 and two years later, they welcomed their first daughter. During their marriage, they worked together on Two and a Half Men, with Richards having a recurring role on it. Sheen was a good husband until she got pregnant for the second time in 2005 with daughter Lola.
"When I got pregnant with Lola, things started to change rapidly," she explained, as per Pagesix. "It was a very dark time. Very toxic. And I filed for divorce when I was six months pregnant with her. I always did whatever I could to hide Charlie’s behavior," she added. "How do you tell kids what’s really going on? I would say, ‘Dad had to go work but he loves you so much. He wants to be here for you girls.'"
They reconciled briefly but she filed for divorce in 2006 again and this time she wanted a restraining order. She claimed Sheen threatened to murder her and watched "disturbing porn," according to the Daily Beast. "I told the Respondent that if the Respondent proceeded with his threats to take me to Court over the children for overnight visitation, that I would have to tell the truth about what he had done. He told me that ‘I Will never get to Court because I will be f**king dead!’ He told me to enjoy my parents ‘while they are still around.’ I took this to mean that he was not only going to do me harm but also do harm to my parents," Richards explained in the filing.
In a 2019 episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Richards mused, "My ex-husband’s aged me terribly I think." And, there is a reason for her to feel so. Sheen's lifestyle was so absurd that he once brought a sex worker with him to Thanksgiving while they were married.
"Charlie came over for Thanksgiving for dinner a few years ago, and he had [her] in the car in the driveway," she said, as per Mamamia. "He was afraid to tell me. 'Uh, you know, well, she’s in the driveway. Is it OK if she’s in the driveway?’" The former Bond girl lied to her daughters that the woman was an assistant of another friend, who also joined them. Richards' father, Irv, had also been present at the dinner and suspected something.
She had asked for legal and physical custody of her children and visitation rights for the Wall Street actor, according to PEOPLE. In later years, her relationship with Sheen broke down further with the Wild Things actress accusing him of owing her $450,000 in child support. “[Charlie] has squandered over $24,000,000 from the sale in his interest in Two and a Half Men to pay his personal debts and to support his extravagant lifestyle at the expense of support payments for his children,” read the papers, obtained by The Blast. The Drop Dead Gorgeous actress claimed Sheen "diverted $600,000 in assets to adult family members and converting thousands of dollars into cash for his own personal use."
The mother-of-three also said in another episode of RHOBH that she is worried about how Sheen’s infamous past affects their teenagers, saying, "There’s a lot that the kids don’t know about their dad, and I want to keep it that way." The 49-year-old mom said that she has been struggling with parenting with her teen oldest. "I’m struggling with parenting right now with my teenagers. Sami, I think sometimes she does things hoping to get a reaction out of me. It’s not easy,” she admitted, according to Us Weekly.
More recently, Richards who married Aaron Phypers, said, "If he doesn’t want to pay child support, that’s on him but it would be nice to not say anything negative about me with the kids that hear about it." In May 2020, she shared a positive update about them as co-parents. "Communication’s great with him," she said, as per Women's Health.
References:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAIfnliD0QU
https://www.womenshealthmag.com/life/a28661568/denise-richards-charlie-sheen-relationship-history/
https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-is-charlie-sheen-surviving-the-2017-hollywood-purge
https://www.mamamia.com.au/denise-richards-charlie-sheen-relationship/
https://people.com/celebrity/denise-richards-divorcing-charlie-sheen/
https://theblast.com/c/denise-richards-accuses-charlie-sheen-owing-back-child-support-court
