Charlie Sheen Due for a Big Payday in Spite of Personal, Legal Troubles

The Eye has been following the sordid tale of Charlie Sheen since his arrest in aspen on Christmas Day for allegedly holding a knife to his wife’s throat. We have been examining the story from two angles; one, whether the Colorado justice system will make an example of his behavior for other famous types who think they are above the law (Think OJ Simpson in Las Vegas) and two, whether the alleged incident will be detrimental to his career. New developments concern the latter.

Is show, Two and a Hal Men, is contracted to produce another two seasons. Sheen’s contract is up this season. Today, rumors have emerged that Sheen, who earns $ 825,000 per episode, wants a raise to $ 2 million per episode or he will walk. Warner Brothers has offered $ 1.5 million per episode.

Anyone with any sense knows Sheen’s threat to leave is a negotiation tactic. He is not leaving the series. Warner Brothers and CBS are not going to let him. Two and a Half Men is a top ten--ad frequent top five--series--which makes a ton of money. Sheen may not get his $ 2 million, but more than $ 1.5 is a certainty.

This in spite of the fact Sheen is still living in a rehab facility for drug and alcohol addiction while filming the series. His children are currently living with his father, Martin.

(Martin, you may or may not remember, threatened to leave The West Wing years ago if creator Aaron Sorkin did not enter rehab for his addiction to hallucinogenic mushrooms. )

So to assess the situation: Sheen, who probably threatened to cut his wife’s throat, which is in accordance to past behavior, like shooting Kelly Preston in the arm, may go to jail for the crime. He is , based also on past history, most certainly going to fall back into alcohol, drugs, and violence towards women regardless. Nevertheless, Warner Brothers and CBS are going to offer him twice as much money to essentially play himself--a self-absorbed, alcoholic misogynist--for laughs on their top rated show.

So, we may have answered the second question we have been exploring--will sheen be able to redeem himself for his alleged attack on his wife? The apparent answer is that not only will he redeem himself, he is going to be rewarded richly.

Personally, I hope Colorado throws the book at him as his juvenile show tanks.