Back in 2011, the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men was thrown into chaos in the middle of its eighth season amid star Charlie Sheen’s drug abuse and troublesome behavior. The actor is now opening up about his life — including his tumultuous exit from Two and a Half Men — in his memoir The Book of Sheen, and he said testosterone cream was partially to blame for the “raging demon” he became on set.
In his new book, Charlie Sheen opens up about the events that led to CBS firing him after he made disparaging remarks about series co-creator Chuck Lorre and production was shut down on Two and a Half Men’s eighth season. Sheen says CBS head Les Moonves had offered to send him to rehab but the actor declined, quitting all of the drugs cold turkey, he says in The Book of Sheen (via EW). He continues:
It didn't go as planned. What I chose not to quit was the testosterone cream that I was slathering on in mind-altering gobs like a f--ken Pond's commercial. After all, it was 'legal.' I'd been using it to get my body back into shape, not knowing that at the same time I was being shape-shifted.
While Charlie Sheen doesn’t deny using drugs, he said the testosterone cream — in the amounts he was using it — caused some of the behavior that became an issue on the set of Two and a Half Men. He writes in the book:
That drug is known to metabolize into the identical psych profile an anabolic steroid will produce. Anyone who bore witness to the raging demon I melded with will hopefully glean some clarity for what my state of mind was up against.
Charlie Sheen says this doesn’t excuse any of his actions, but he wanted to provide context for what those around him witnessed. He went on:
Not making excuses or asking for a pass. Just putting it out there there as a detail that may have been confused with a laundry list of other potential suspects. I've heard great things about the drug when used responsibly, but let's keep it real — ‘drugs’ and ‘responsible’ are two words I never made of habit of cramming into the same sentence.
The actor’s behavior in 2011 ignited a longtime feud with Chuck Lorre that ended in 2023, when Charlie Sheen cameoed as himself on Lorre’s HBO Max comedy Bookie. Sheen has also since attempted to reconnect with Jon Cryer, his Two and a Half Men co-star.
The release of Charlie Sheen’s memoir coincides with the Netflix documentary aka Charlie Sheen, which hits the 2025 TV schedule on Wednesday, September 10. The two-part series features Jon Cryer, Sheen’s ex-wives Denise Richards — who appeared with him on the red carpet at the premiere — and Brooke Mueller, as well as many others, including his alleged former drug dealer.
It’s wild to think that of all the drug use that Charlie Sheen admits to, a big part of his issues might have stemmed from a street-legal testosterone cream. Be sure to check out the actor’s documentary with a Netflix subscription and/or his new memoir if you want to learn more.
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