Mathew Imaging/WireImageIt's a He Said-They Said kind of situation.
Yesterday Warner Bros. TV adamantly refuted remarks Charlie Sheen made earlier this week that there was an 85 percent chance he would come back to Two and a Half Men and that the two sides were "in discussions."
Now Sheen's camp is insisting that, indeed, those talks are taking place despite the $100 million lawsuit he filed against his former employer for terminating his services.
So who to believe? You be the judge.
The brouhaha began when the studio's legal eagle penned a letter—a copy of which was obtained Thursday by E! News—to Charlie's pitbull attorney, Marty Singer, disputing the self-proclaimed Warlock's version of events.
"[Sheen's] statement's are false," wrote counsel John W. Spiegel. "There have been no discussions, there are no discussions and there will be no discussions, regarding his returning to or having any involvement with the series."
But for his part, Singer said that the missive was referring to a different matter altogether and, on the contrary, the two sides were seeking a détente.
"That's ridiculous," Sheen's lawyer told the trade publication about the letter having to do with comments Charlie made to Boston sports station WBZ-FM about a possible return to the sitcom. "There absolutely have been discussions. As late as this Tuesday there have been discussions about Charlie coming back and everyone was involved."
During his show at New York's Radio City Music Hall last Friday, Sheen surprised fans by expressing a willingness to reconcile with his old boss, Chuck Lorre, when he said, "I want my job back." This despite all the bad blood between them and the invective Sheen's hurled his way (like calling Lorre a "troll").
Perhaps Charlie was motivated to extend an olive branch after learning Warner Bros. TV halted all of its syndication payments to the thesp. According to Singer, it's the issue of Sheen's massive back-end royalties from Two and a Half Men and not his client's comments that the studio's lawyers were responding to.
"What's going on here is I wrote a demand letter about Charlie not being paid for the first seven seasons," notes Singer. "This is the response. Those episodes have nothing to do with this dispute and Charlie should be paid accordingly."
Mmm. . .
We'er not sure how that claim squares with the letter, in which Spiegel specifically states he's "writing in response to recently reported statements attributed to your client Charlie Sheen that he is 'in discussions' about returning to the series Two and a Half Men."
A rep for the studio declined to comment on Singer's explanation except to say "our attorneys' letter speaks for itself."
Meanwhile, Sheen's much ballyhooed and now frequently booed Torpedo of Truth tour stopped in Canada last night where the once "winning" thesp told the raucous crowd that "it looks like it's going forward," an apparent reference to the peace supposedly being worked out to get him back his day job.
Guess only time will tell.
- Additional Reporting by Claudia Rosenbaum