With all the renewed energy being spent focusing on how horribly the media has treated various celebrities who were struggling, like Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, or Paris Hilton, it makes sense that ten years later, Charlie Sheen is going on the record about his own experience creating controversy while going through a personal struggle.
In 2011, Charlie Sheen made headlines for a controversial interview in which he referred to himself as having “tiger blood.”
At the time he also claimed, “I’m not bi-polar, I’m bi-winning.”
RELATED STORIES
The interview, which you can watch above, garnered a lot of notoriety and amusement with Charlie’s behavior, although many were concerned about his mental health as well.
In a new interview, Charlie has opened up about the controversial interview and what he was struggling with at the time.
“People have [said to] me, ‘Hey, man, that was so cool, that was so fun to watch. That was so cool to be a part of and support and all that energy and, you know, we stuck it to the man,'” Charlie told Yahoo! Entertainment .
“My thought behind that is, ‘Oh, yeah, great. I’m so glad that I traded early retirement for a [expletive] hashtag.'”
“There was 55 different ways for me to handle that situation, and I chose number 56,” Charlie continued. “And so, you know, I think the growth for me post-meltdown or melt forward or melt somewhere — however you want to label it — it has to start with absolute ownership of my role in all of it. And it was desperately juvenile.”
“I think it was drugs or the residual effects of drugs,” Charlie said of why he was behaving that way.
“And it was also an ocean of stress and a volcano of disdain. It was all self-generated, you know,” Charlie went on.
Charlie added that at that point in his life, he needed help. “I was really a guy that needed someone to reach out to and say, ‘Hey, man, obviously there’s a ton of other[expletive] going on. How can we help?'”
“And instead they showed up in droves with banners and songs, all types of fanfare and celebration of, you know, what I think was a very public display of a mental health moment.”
“I had four children and went through two divorces in and around trying to navigate the landscape of being on the most popular show in the known universe, so it was a lot,” Charlie explained.
“Sometimes you pick a target, you need a scapegoat, you need someone to put it all on,” Charlie said.
“It can’t be me, it’s gotta be him or them or those folks. And that’s just not the road best traveled,” Charlie explained.
Charlie is also confident that the rest of his career will actually follow his acting choices and not his personal life.
Charlie explained that even though the old interview might “still mean something” to some fans, he’s ready to move on.
“I have absolute faith that the things I’m going to do professionally in Act 3 are going to put a muzzle on all that stuff and people can celebrate me again for what I actually do for a living.”
We’re glad to hear that Charlie is in a better place now!
h/t: Yahoo! Entertainment