Charlie Sheen's Show Is a Hit, He Can Do as He Pleases, CBS Prez Says
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
How does Charlie Sheen do it?
After a series of wild nights with porn stars and booze, hospital stays, and well-publicized arrests, his employer still has his back.
A top exec at CBS said Friday that the network is concerned about Sheen's off-camera behavior, but it hasn't affected his work as the star of television's most popular comedy.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
"We have a high level of concern," said Nina Tassler, CBS entertainment president. "How can we not?"
The actor's recent headlines have included a wild night that left a New York hotel room in shambles and sent Sheen to a hospital, and a guilty plea last summer to assaulting his wife in Aspen, Colorado.
Sheen filled gossip pages again by spending last weekend partying in Las Vegas.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Tassler said she has given a great deal of thought to Sheen on a "human level," but the situation can't be viewed simplistically. The actor does his job reliably well on "Two and a Half Men," she said.
A reporter suggested a person in a different line of work would be fired for involvement in similar incidents.
"What do you get fired for? Going to work and doing your job?" Tassler asked.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Sheen's Monday night program has increased its audience by 2 percent over last season, the Nielsen Co. said. He signed a new two-year contract at the end of last season that makes him one of the highest-paid actors on prime-time television.
CBS respects the way Warner Bros. Television, the producer of "Two and a Half Men" and Sheen's actual employer, has been handling the situation, Tassler said.
"This show is a hit," she said. "That's all we have to say."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
- The Associated Press contributed to this report.