Sheen Opens Up About Jewish Roots

By Nathan Burstein March 8, 2011

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.

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