MEREDITH VIEIRA, co-host:
Speaking of the
Internet
, let's get to
Charlie Sheen
speaking out about his firing from "
Two and a Half Men
."
NBC
's
Jeff Rossen
is in
Los Angeles
with details.
Jeff
, good morning.
JEFF ROSSEN reporting:
Hi
,
Meredith
, good morning to you. In just one week,
Charlie Sheen
has lost his kids and now his job as well. I talked to him just minutes after he was fired yesterday. I asked how he's feeling. He said, and I'm quoting here, "Great. I didn't like that show anyway or those dumb bowling shirts they made me wear. Now I'm free." But this morning,
Sheen
's future in
Hollywood
is more uncertain than ever.
Mr. CHARLIE SHEEN:
Because you judge me, you condemn me, you discarded me. Well, not anymore. Winning.
ROSSEN:
Late Monday night, just hours after he was fired,
Charlie Sheen
went online and went off again.
Mr. SHEEN:
We are in the -- in the -- in the middle of a movement here, an odyssey of
epic proportions
, epic,
epic proportions
.
ROSSEN:
At times,
Sheen
barely made sense.
Mr. SHEEN:
I think we should do my book. Incidentally,
the title, best title of all time, "Apocalypse Me:
The
Jaws of Life
."
"Apocalypse Me:
The
Jaws of Life
." That was brilliant.
ROSSEN:
It's hard
to watch, especially now.
Charlie Sheen
has been officially dumped from his hit sitcom, "
Two and a Half Men
." No more temporary hiatus. Now it's really over. In its termination letter obtained by
TMZ
,
Warner Bros.
called
Sheen
"dangerously self-destructive" and "very ill."
ROSSEN:
Did you turn to alcohol and other substances because you were bored?
Mr. SHEEN:
No, I did -- I did that because they work.
ROSSEN:
Ever show up to the set drunk or high?
Mr. SHEEN:
Never once, never once. You know, a little bit sideways having not slept, but never loaded, never drunk, nothing on the set.
ROSSEN:
But in its letter,
Warner Bros.
says, "Outtakes of the filming show
Mr. Sheen
had difficulty remembering his lines and hitting his marks," and point out his sudden weight loss of 20 pounds after the
Christmas break
. "He appeared to be using drugs heavily." Studio execs say they even tried to help him repeatedly and "reached out to
Mr. Sheen
's family and friends and had an airplane waiting to take him to rehab."
CBS
president,
Les Moonves
, personally visited
Mr. Sheen
in his home. But, the letter says, "
Mr. Sheen
refused to leave his home for treatment."
Mr. SHEEN
I'm free at last, free at last.
ROSSEN:
Just after he as fired Monday,
Sheen
was spotted out and about in
Hollywood
with one of his so-called "goddesses," waving a machete saying he'd destroy anyone who messed with his family, figuratively speaking. Then came the new webcast.
Mr. SHEEN:
Now I'm smoking a cigarette and drinking something I won't reveal, unless they pay me.
ROSSEN:
Warner Bros
. said it "could not and should not attempt to continue 'business as usual' while
Mr. Sheen
destroys himself as the world watches."
Mr. SHEEN:
Everybody wins.
ROSSEN:
While
Sheen
says there's no morals clause in his contract,
Warner Bros.
claims there is, saying they can fire him if they believe he's "committed an act which constitutes a felony offense involving
moral turpitude
."
ROSSEN:
The future of "
Two and a Half Men
" remains unclear. Does the show go on without
Sheen
, or is it finished entirely? Is he finished entirely?
Mr. SHEEN:
Keep in mind, like any time I roll something out, my plan is the best one in the room, and people are starting to wake up
and realize that. That their plan......and my plan is gold.
ROSSEN:
Warner Bros
. is taking it even a step further. They now want
Charlie Sheen
to pay them for lost revenue for all the missed episodes.
Sheen
has vowed to fight back in court and countersue. We also have new developments this morning in
Sheen
's custody battle. His lawyer now tells
NBC News
settlement talks are progressing with
Sheen
's estranged wife,
Brooke Mueller
, and they're hoping to reach a deal on their twin boys soon.
Meredith:
All right,
Jeff Rossen
,
thank you very much
. Media consultant,
Steve Adubato
, is the author of "What Were They Thinking."
Linda Kenney Baden
is a veteran trial attorney. Good morning to you both.
VIEIRA:
Good morning,
Meredith
.
Ms. LINDA KENNEY BADEN:
Good morning,
Meredith
.
Mr. STEVE ADUBATO (Author, "What Were They Thinking"):
Linda
, let me start with you in this letter from
Warner Bros.
VIEIRA:
Right.
Ms. BADEN:
It details what the studio claims are justifiable reasons to fire
Sheen
. At this point, do you think the studio has the upper hand here?
VIEIRA:
Oh absolutely not.
Ms. BADEN:
Not.
VIEIRA:
As an employment lawyer, I tell you I love this. It sets their position, and remember, he filmed live the last three episodes, two of the last three episodes of "
Two and a Half Men
." So, if he was doing his job, the studio can't say, 'Well, you know, we didn't think you were ready to do your job because you didn't submit us a doctor's note.' He said, 'I'm ready to go.' And if I'm his lawyer I love this.
Ms. BADEN:
But, you know, the studio's saying that his performances have not been up to standard and that his interviews and his rants against
Chuck Lorre
, the show's creator, have been hurting the show.
VIEIRA:
It's a press release that's mean -- means nothing in the law. All that matters is his contract. What does his contract say and can he get paid for -- if he was ready to tape? And that's all that matters here. Remember, they're behind because he's in the world of
Twitter
, he's in the world of
Facebook
. He's in the social media. This is not
20th Century
conglomerate
Ms. BADEN:
trying to catch up to
Charlie
needs --
Charlie Sheen
's....
There's this whole issue -- yeah, there's this whole issues of the morals clause, too, whether there was one or wasn't.
VIEIRA:
Yeah.
Mr. ADUBATO:
If indeed there was one...
VIEIRA:
It's not a real one. The one that's in here is not a real morals clause.
Ms. BADEN:
Well...
Mr. ADUBATO:
It says -- they take them off the billing. So what? That doesn't mean they can't pay him. Or shouldn't pay him.
Ms. BADEN:
Look,
Meredith
, I have problems with the way
CBS
and
Warner Bros.
handled this because I felt they should have stepped in sooner. So
my point of view
is this...
Mr. ADUBATO:
There were other times, obviously, when he was behaving badly.
VIEIRA:
Look, domestic violence cases, you know, shot someone who he's very closely connected to. The situation at the plaza. What really -- in my mind what it came down to is the attacks against
CBS
and
Warner Bros.
And, ultimately, what they decided was he looks horrible, he's presenting himself in a terrible way. And that may work in a wacky webcast or it may work because, you know, we have this interest in the way he's acting right now. But that doesn't work in a family sitcom, even though he played, you know, a character that was a little bit left of center, if you will, in terms of his conduct. It doesn't work in a show like this. Forget about from a legal point of view.
Mr. ADUBATO:
But you can't. You can't forget from a legal point.
Ms. BADEN:
Their brand is hurt, his brand is destroyed. You can't -- listen...
Mr. ADUBATO:
You can't forget the legal point of view. His ratings were through the roof on the last rerun of "
Two and a Half Men
." Why are we talking about him?
Ms. BADEN:
Because of the curiosity of his insanity.
Mr. ADUBATO:
Because he's theater. But that's...
Ms. BADEN:
Not because people are attracted to him. As a person you can watch on a regular basis?
Mr. ADUBATO:
That's what
makes him great theater, and that's why it has nothing to do with his contract.
Ms. BADEN:
Listen, people pull over for train wrecks and car wrecks, too. That doesn't mean they'll do it on a regular basis. This is a different kind of situation.
Mr. ADUBATO:
Oh, I can't wait to watch him.
Ms. BADEN:
Well, he has said in response to his firing, he wrote, "It is a
big day
of gladness at the sober valley lodge because now I can take all of the bazillions."
VIEIRA:
Yeah.
Mr. ADUBATO:
Do you think there's any method to this?
VIEIRA:
Put it this way, he's losing $2 million an episode, and the last time I checked he was trying to sell
T-shirts
. So the question is, maybe he should listen to
Suze Orman
when it comes to managing money. My point is, he actually may have money problems. You lose $2 million, I don't know how that's a good day for you. An episode! This is not a good day for him. His brand is destroyed. I don't see how he works in a regular situation, but I think
CBS
and
Warner Bros.
are going to try to replace him. I don't know how that works.
Mr. ADUBATO:
Warner Bros
. wants them to pay them for lost revenue. Any likelihood that's going...
VIEIRA:
Never, never is going to happen. As a matter of fact, what they've done in this letter is they've created a situation. They said, 'We've terminated you because we don't like your physical illness, we don't like your mental illness.' They may have given him an avenue to go to
federal law
. We don't like it, but this case is positioning to settle. This is all about positioning, and it has nothing to do about anything else.
Ms. BADEN:
But isn't that reason enough to fire them?
VIEIRA:
Absolutely. Absolutely.
Mr. ADUBATO:
I mean, if they don't like the way he's behaved, isn't that reason enough?
VIEIRA:
Can't do it. It's controlled by his contract. You can't just say, 'I don't like it.' I mean, they hired him because he is
Charlie Sheen
, because he is...
Ms. BADEN:
A felony charge.
Mr. ADUBATO:
By the way -- by the way,
Steve
and I didn't talk before we came as
Ms. BADEN:
you can see....
A felony charge doesn't matter.
Mr. ADUBATO:
They didn't fire him for a felony charge.
Ms. BADEN:
A felony charge...
Mr. ADUBATO:
They didn't fire him when they listed those things.
Ms. BADEN:
They listed that. They sure did. They listed...
Mr. ADUBATO:
They mention that, obviously.
VIEIRA:
They mention it, but they didn't take action when he had the felony charge. They renewed his contract last May.
Ms. BADEN:
You're right about that. They should have acted then because now it looks like they're doing it because he looks bad, because he's presenting in a terrible way.
Mr. ADUBATO:
Because he attacked the executive producer, and they didn't like it.
Ms. BADEN:
That as well.
Mr. ADUBATO:
That's what
it all comes down to.
Ms. BADEN:
OK, well, we'll see how this all shakes out.
If I were you
, I'd tweet about this, you guys.
Linda Kenney Baden
and
Steve Adubato
,
thank you very much
.
VIEIRA:
“ ”