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NewsBeast‘Do I look like a guy

worried about

losing $25 million?’New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg allegedly discussing his business empire.

WHAT’S AHEAD

March 2, 2011 Washington, D.C. John Boehner licks his chops after persuading the Democrats to slash $4 billion from the federal budget, thereby avoiding the thing he most dreads: a government shutdown. Th e real test for the speaker may come this spring, when Congress decides whether to raise the government’s debt limit. Meanwhile, Tea Partiers are getting antsy about the GOP’s putative leader. One group, from Boehner’s home district, complained that House Republicans seem too inclined to compromise on spending. Th e speaker’s accommodation of the Democrats is so foolish, said Judson Phillips, founder of Tea Party Nation, that “Charlie Sheen is now making more sense than John Boehner.”

March 14

G8 foreign

ministers

meet in Paris.

March 11

Saudis join

“day of rage”

protest.

March 11

IPad 2 goes

on sale.

March 10

Osama bin

Laden

turns 54.

March 9

Vice President

Biden

visits Russia.

March 8

Throw on your

beads for

Mardi Gras!

Alec Baldwin

“I am giving up Catholic

guilt for Lent.

Extremely diffi cult, as

I thrive on it.”

Adriana Lima

“Giving meat up is

normally what

I have done. This year

I might include

chocolate too.”

New York

Archbishop

Timothy Dolan

“I wish I could tell you, but

Jesus cautioned us about

‘bragging’ about this.”

NEWS BITES What are you giving up for Lent?

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The Big Fat Story

Denise Richards, one of Sheen’s

ex-wives and mother of two of his

children, rushed to the hospital

after his October rampage at the

Plaza. Dad Martin, no stranger

to freakouts, compared his son’s

troubles to cancer. Brother Emilio

Estevez has been keeping busy

in his backyard vineyard.

Ex-wife Brooke Mueller, once

on friendly terms, has now

taken out a restraining order

against Sheen. Police recently

removed their twins from

Sheen’s home.

Th e 45-year-old actor lost his television

show after checking into rehab and

unleashing a Gaddafi -level rant at

Two and a Half Men creator Chuck

Lorre. Th is pileup is only the latest

detour on Sheen’s lifetime of

adventures. He’ll lose millions from

the show. On the plus side, the makers

of Just Chill, a drink that claims

to reduce stress, off ered Sheen a $3

million endorsement deal. Academic

laurels could be in the offi ng: a group

of students at George Washington

University are campaigning to have

him as their commencement speaker.

…CHARLIE SHEEN

The Two and a Half Men star freaked out and was tossed from television’s highest-rated comedy. But who are the real victims?

NewsBeast

36

Newsweek March 14, 2011

What Charlie Sheen’s Meltdown Means For…

1

…THE REST OF THE SHEENS

37

thedailybeast.com

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…MUAMMAR GADDAFI

CBS’s loss was everyone else’s gain.

Sheen couch surfed from morning till

night, making his case to anyone with

a microphone and enough patience

for his ravings. (“He’s on air quite a bit

these days,” CBS honcho Les Moonves

quipped to investors. “I wish he would

have worked this hard to promote

himself for an Emmy.”) Sheen’s visit with

ABC’s 20/20 drew 9 million viewers, the

newsmagazine’s highest-rated episode in

two years. Sheen dropped by Larry King–

successor Piers Morgan’s desk at CNN,

luring 1.3 million viewers, the most since

Morgan interviewed Oprah for his debut.

…THE REST OF TELEVISION

What kind of fi nancial dent will

Charlie Sheen’s implosion make on

CBS and Warner Brothers, which

produces Two and a Half Men?

Warner could be $100 million

lighter in the wallet if another

episode is never made. Th e Tiff any

Network could suff er $160 million

in lost advertising. Worse, Sheen is

threatening a $300 million lawsuit

for the two years left over on his

contract. Th e entertainment brass

got a reminder of how much juice is

left in the Sheen franchise: a repeat

of Two and a Half Men topped

the ratings one night last week,

drawing 11.5 million viewers.

Sheen’s pratfalls may be the stuff of

screwball comedy, but the laughs crowd

out a serious issue: how Sheen treats

women. Th e list of women hurt when

Sheen acts out is frighteningly long. An

abridged tour: the accidental shooting

of a fi ancée in 1990, alleged death threats

against not one but two wives, the recent

episode involving a sex-fi lm actress who

locked herself in a hotel bathroom while

Sheen rampaged. Just as scary, though,

is how easily we overlook the violence

as just another example of Sheen being

Sheen. “His abuse of women is barely

broached,” writer Anna Holmes noted

in Th e New York Times.

Few people should be as thankful

for Sheen’s theatrics as Gaddafi , who

promises to fi ght to the end to keep

his stranglehold over Libya. Just as

Michael Jackson’s death crowded out

coverage of Iran’s Green Revolution

in 2009, so too has Sheen’s spiral

pushed Gaddafi off U.S. television

screens. Sheen, for all his distance

from reality, didn’t miss the oddness

here. “It’s a little bizarre turning on

the news and I’m the lead story,”

he said. “I’m thinking, ‘Th e

world is upside down.’ But I

guess that shows the power of

the business I’m in.”

…CBS

…THE WOMEN

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