Sheen Opens Up About Jewish Roots
Just when The Shmooze thought he couldn’t come up with anything loopier, Charlie Sheen has managed to surprise us.
The former TV star – who was officially axed from “Two and a Half Men” yesterday – is now talking about his Jewish roots, two weeks after making headlines for comments widely criticized as anti-Semitic.
Speaking to “Access Hollywood,” Sheen said that his mother, Janet Templeton, is Jewish – a trait she shares with his most recent wife, Brooke Mueller.
“My mom is Jewish,” Sheen told the entertainment show in a phone interview. “Here’s where it gets confusing – we don’t know who her father was. But she is, in fact, Jewish. So, I guess that would make me Jewish, and my children Jewish. And Brooke, my ex-wife, is Jewish. So, I guess I should’ve rolled all that out, too.”
The comments come after a Sheen tirade last month in which the actor mocked “Two and a Half Men” creator Chuck Lorre as “Chaim Levine” – a reference to Lorre’s original last name. The ADL called the comments “borderline anti-Semitism” – drawing the ire of Sheen, who denied the accusation and demanded an apology.
Now that Sheen has opened up about his Jewish background, perhaps he and Lorre can reconcile during Purim. Sheen, we hear, enjoys a good party.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
