CBSTwo and a Half Men is one of the most successful sitcoms of this century, but according to star Jon Cryer, there was huge disparity between salaries on the show.
Charlie Sheen has been all over the news this week thanks to his autobiography ‘The Book of Sheen’ hitting shelves and documentary aka Charlie Sheen dropping on Netflix.
The latter featured an accusation about the actor shooting his then-girlfriend Kelly Preston, as well as an allegation about Corey Haim that Sheen strenuously denies.
His Two and a Half Men co-star Jon Cryer also compares the star to a North Korean dictator during the doc, and expresses frustration over their pay situation on the show.
Charlie Sheen was paid triple Jon Cryer’s salary on Two and a Half Men
CBSCryer is honest about his frustrations working with Sheen on Two and a Half Men, as the latter became unreliable due to his drink and drug addictions, as well as frequent run-ins with the law. Especially when those actions put his own livelihood under threat.
“He’s in the midst of falling apart in every way that I can imagine,” says Cryer, “and he’s renegotiating his contract for another year of a show that I’m supposed to be on too!”
Cryer continues: “The dictator of North Korea was a guy named Kim Jong-Il. He acted crazy all the time and thus got enormous amounts of aid from countries who were so scared of him that they would shovel money at him.
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“Well, that’s what happened here. [Sheen’s] negotiations went off the charts because his life was falling apart. Me, whose life was pretty good at that time, I got a third of that.”
Cryer claims that Sheen became the highest paid actor on TV at the time because CBS had pre-sold two more seasons of the show, and had to spend an “astonishing amount of money on Charlie” to keep Two and a Half Men going.
Charlie Sheen wants to end the sitcom “properly”
NetflixSheen was ultimately fired from Two and a Half Men, with Ashton Kutcher replacing him. But looking back on the series, he sees it as unfinished business.
When asked by Entertainment Tonight if he wishes the show had gone better, Sheen said: Of course I do. I still owe Jon [Cryer] a phone call.”
Then regarding a potential return, Sheen said: “I don’t know that that show would ever come back, or have a chance at ending properly, but I would do it more for the fans than for myself. Just to put a proper bookend on it. Just to land that plane… how it always should have touched down. Like a frisbee on the beach.”
aka Charlie Sheen is now streaming, while you can head here for more true crime and documentaries on Netflix.