Madison Ave. boosts Sheen
McClatchy Newspapers
LOS ANGELES
Just over a year ago, Charlie Sheen had been fired from his hit sitcom “Two and a Half Men,” had become a regular on national news programs ranting about tiger blood, smoking crack and, of course, winning. He was wrapping up his “Violent Torpedo of Truth Tour.”
Now he’s doing publicity for his comeback show “Anger Management,” which debuts on FX this month, and it seems like he’s the same old Charlie.
Sheen is gracing the cover of Rolling Stone and is also the subject of a lengthy profile in the New York Times. In both articles he shows little remorse for his bad-boy ways, which include an arrest for assaulting his now-ex-wife.
“They knew what they were getting. They know it’s not always going to be smooth sailing,” he joked with the New York Times.
Hollywood has a habit of looking the other way when it comes to bad behavior or even rewarding it if the person in question can deliver the goods.
The media’s always secretly envious of the so-called rebels who buck the system and get the girls, seemingly with little consequence. There may be nose-holding while typing up the story, but that won’t stop anyone from turning down a sit-down with Sheen. The public is fascinated with him. He has all those Twitter followers.
The surprising part of Sheen’s well-orchestrated comeback is corporate America’s role. Usually advertisers steer clear of unpredicable folks because they don’t want them hurting their brand. But satellite broadcaster DirecTV and Fiat capitalized on his bad reputation in ads hawking their companies.
If Sheen melts down again, FX, Debmar Mercury (production company behind “Anger Management”) and Madison Avenue can all point the finger at themselves. It’s not as if Sheen didn’t warn them.