Sheen's Self-Destructive Antics Stoke Media Frenzy

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STEVE INSKEEP, host:

Even if you don't follow celebrity news, you've probably been around somebody in recent days who is obsessively playing video or reading aloud the quotes of Charlie Sheen, the star of TV's "Two and a Half Men," one of the biggest shows on television. We're going to talk about the TV star's unbelievably public self-destruction with Kim Masters, who covers the entertainment industry. She joins us from NPR West, as she often does.

Hi, Kim.

KIM MASTERS: Hi, Steve.

INSKEEP: What makes this so much bigger than any other celebrity blowout I can think of?

MASTERS: Well, I don't know if it's totally unique. We did have Mel Gibson. We had Tom Cruise. But Charlie Sheen is the star of the number one sitcom on television. And it's a tough environment to have a number one show on television. And that property is worth hundreds of millions of dollars and a lot of livelihoods. So it's a big deal from a business point of view, as well as just from the pure celebrity gossip angle.

INSKEEP: I wonder if it's also the fact that Charlie Sheen has managed to keep the story going, intentionally or not. He hasn't said one wild thing on the air. It's been day after day after day, interview after interview.

MASTERS: Day after day. Yeah. I have tiger blood. I have Adonis DNA. I mean, he is on a roll. And he started tweeting a couple of days ago and was adding followers at the rate of 2,500 a minute. So yeah, he's been a one-man promotional vehicle for his own self-destruction as far as this television show is concerned.

INSKEEP: Can I ask about the ethics of this? I saw him on CNN the other night.

MASTERS: Right.

INSKEEP: And he's saying these crazy sounding things. He's making headlines, getting viewers for CNN. And the same network at another point has people on the air to raise the question and try to answer the question about whether he's mentally ill. Now, if CNN themselves has reason to ask if he might be mentally ill, is it right for them to be putting him on the air like that?

MASTERS: I find it objectionable. I mean, first of all, let's not just single out CNN. He was on "The Today Show." He's been on ABC.

I heard an anchor on one of the shows say, oh, Charlie Sheen is being very candid in this interview. And I thought that was almost as interesting a description as Piers Morgan from CNN saying he didn't seem bipolar to me. You know, with Piers Morgan's advanced degree in psychiatry, I'm sure he can make that evaluation.

But obviously there's a lot of exploitation going on. And let's not leave it there. CBS and Warner Brothers have been feasting on this. And it's been clear for a long time that Charlie Sheen has had a lot of problems.

INSKEEP: Wait a minute. You said CBS and Warner Brothers have been feasting on this. You're talking about the network that airs his show, the production company that puts this show together. Isn't this a mess for them?

MASTERS: It is now. But for a long time, you know, they would say when Charlie Sheen got in trouble for, you know, assaulting his wife and arrested for allegedly holding a knife to her throat, CBS and Warner Brothers said, well, he shows up and he hits his marks.

And, you know, legally he did threaten, if they shut down the show - and he is still threatening - to go after them, because he's saying he did not breach his contract. But, you know, when it got bad enough, when he insulted the producer of the show and he seemed to be going completely out of control, they did have no choice but to shut it down.

INSKEEP: Well, what are CBS options going forward?

MASTERS: Well, you know, they can pray that Charlie has an awakening and decides that he's going to go into rehab. They would love nothing more than to keep this show going, you know, especially Warner Brothers. They own it. CBS just airs it. So it's a hit for CBS. It is a multi, multi - as I said, hundreds of millions of dollars for Warner Brothers.

I don't know that we can hope - you know, they'd have to start shooting in August. They've canceled the rest of this season. Is there a way in which Charlie Sheen can somehow turn himself around and reappear in August and start shooting? I don't know.

I mean, I did talk to one publicist who handles crises. And he said the one salvation may be that if he decides to take a break and come back and say I was crazy, he might find that story is one that a lot of people believe.

INSKEEP: Kim Masters, thanks very much.

MASTERS: Thank you, Steve.

INSKEEP: She hosts THE BUSINESS on our member station KCRW and is also editor-at-large for The Hollywood Reporter.

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