How Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards Met
Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards met in 2001 when she had a guest part on Spin City, and the Major League star invited her to his place to watch a baseball game.
"I made the first move kissing him," she told People the following year. "He was Mr. Polite, such a gentleman."
By date two, she said, "I knew that this is the one, but I wouldn’t tell him that. I didn’t want to scare him away by saying, ‘You’re my future husband!’ and have him run for the hills."
Instead they jogged to the altar, tying the knot June 15, 2002, at the home of Spin City creator Gary David Goldberg.
“There’s not hope for much when you’re that deep,” Sheen told People after their nuptials, referring to how far he'd come just to get to that happy moment. Richards "taught me more about myself than anybody I’ve ever been close to. I just feel so supported all the time."
Denise Richards Files for Divorce While Pregnant With Her Second Child
Daughter Sami Sheen was born March 4, 2004, and Lola Sheen arrived on June 1, 2005—three months after Richards filed for divorce.
"He had been sober for about four years and very committed to his sobriety,” Richards said during the April 1, 2025, episode of Bravo's Denise Richards & Her Wild Things, "and I never thought someone that committed could fall off and fall back into that because I, at the time, hadn't really been around it.”
After one particularly "awful evening," she recalled, the next day while Sheen was at work she packed up her stuff and Sami's, took the 12-month-old and their housekeeper to the Beverly Hills Hotel and "filed for divorce in between dropping them off at the hotel and a table reading."
Denise and Charlie Attempt to Reconcile, Enter Arbitration in 2006
They did attempt to reconcile after Lola was born, Sheen telling Extra weeks later, "Things are a whole lot better, and I think with that, hope. We're not ruling anything out."
By the beginning of 2006, though, they opted to move forward with the split through private arbitration.
Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards' Messy Custody Battle Goes Public
Richards sought a temporary restraining order that April, alleging Sheen had pushed her and threatened to kill her, and that, when she saw different porn sites he was looking at, he allegedly told her, "I hope you f---ing die, b---ch."
Sheen denied Richards' accusations, but a judge ordered him to stay 300 feet away from her and their daughters—except for during their supervised visits—for the time being.
"Obviously, what has taken place is vile, is unconscionable, is without merit, is a transparent and immature smear campaign," Sheen said in a statement, per ABC News. "She's claiming certain things. It's baseless."
Still, they arrived at a tentative custody arrangement that May (supervised visitation once a week for Sheen), their reps saying in a joint statement, "Denise and Charlie are working with the Courts to privately resolve their differences regarding their children. They hope to resolve this matter outside of the public forum and will both continue to make every effort in this regard."
The court signed off on their divorce in November 2006. But their differences had decidedly not been settled.
Denise Richards Looks to Limit Charlie Sheen's Time With Their Daughters
In September 2007, Richards filed to revoke Sheen's overnight visit privileges with Sami and Lola, alleging he was engaging in "inappropriate behavior" online while the girls were in his care.
Sheen, who got engaged to real estate investor Brooke Mueller that July, vehemently denied Richards' accusations. "Clearly the mother of my children has no interest in responsible co-parenting when it comes to my relationship with our girls," he said in a statement. "She behaves as though she OWNS our children. She does not. A day of legal reckoning for her is fast approaching. The truth will prevail. It always does."
Charlie Sheen Tries to Stop Kids From Being on TV With Denise Richards
After his ex signed up to star in Denise Richards: It's Complicated, which premiered on E! in May 2008, Sheen unsuccessfully tried to block their daughters from being on the show.
He signed the waiver allowing it, Richards said on The View at the time, but then changed his mind.
"I wasn't going to sacrifice the protection I had in place for the show," the World Is Not Enough Bond Girl said, "so I asked the judge."
Meanwhile, she may have been successfully arguing her case in actual court, but the court of public opinion had been trickier to navigate.
Richards shared that she got "a lot of flak" when her allegations against Sheen turned into headlines.
"I had a lot of guilt splitting up our family," she said on The View. "I didn't come from a family of divorce, but there's a lot the public doesn't know. I've never publicly said what happened."
When she filed for the TRO, she explained, "at that point, I'm a mom who is protecting my children and I didn't know what was going to be public, what's going to be sealed. That I have no control over."
Referring to Sheen's objection to Sami and Lola being on TV with her, she added, "Everything's a battle and I hope that one day he and I can get to a place where we can co-parent together. This is not a healthy situation for my kids."
Richards lamented their state of affairs.
"Charlie is truly a stranger to me, and that's the really sad part," she told Redbook in 2008. "I know many people who have gotten divorced and remained good friends, and I envy that because it's obviously much healthier for the kids than our situation."
And already she felt judged for doing reality TV.
"See the show at least, and then make a decision," she suggested. "Also, if Charlie and I had decided together to keep our kids away from the media, I would understand where he's coming from now. But we made the decision as a couple not to shield our children. I'm always pleasant to photographers around the girls because I don't want them to be fearful. They didn't ask to be born into this life."
Charlie Sheen Is Arrested for Assaulting Wife Brooke Mueller
But while Richards had the show, it was Sheen's life that was about to reach new levels of complicated.
On his own homefront, he married Mueller on May 30, 2008, and they welcomed twins Bob and Max the following March. "He's a family man—now he has three daughters and two sons," his rep said at the time. "He's a wonderful father."
But on Christmas morning in 2009, Sheen was arrested in Aspen, Colo., on domestic violence-related charges for allegedly assaulting Mueller, who told police, per their report, that the actor held a knife to her throat and said, "You better be in fear."
Both spouses checked into rehab after the incident. Sheen pleaded guilty in August 2010 to a reduced charge of misdemeanor assault that allowed him to spend more time at Malibu treatment center Promises in lieu of jail, as well as spend three months on probation and undergo 36 hours of domestic violence counseling.
He said in a statement, "I look forward to complying with the court's decision, getting on with my life and putting this behind me."
Charlie Sheen Is Hospitalized After Plaza Hotel Meltdown
In October 2010, Sheen was hospitalized for what his rep said was an "adverse reaction" to medication after cops were called to the Plaza Hotel in New York to respond to an "emotionally disturbed individual," as police said at the time. Richards and their daughters were staying at the hotel in a separate suite, and porn actress Capri Anderson was in Sheen's room at the time.
He and Mueller both filed for divorce on Nov. 1, with Sheen citing their date of separation as Dec. 25, 2009, the day of their Aspen altercation.
Charlie Sheen Is Fired From Two and a Half Men
Following a period of headline-dominating erratic behavior, Sheen was officially fired from CBS' Two and a Half Men in March 2011 after seven extremely lucrative seasons.
Sheen, in turn, called his termination "very good news."
He maintained that his former bosses were in breach of contract. "It is a big day of gladness at the Sober Valley Lodge," he said in a statement, "because now I can take all of the bazillions, never have to look at whatshisc--k again and I never have to put on those silly shirts for as long as this warlock exists in the terrestrial dimension."
Sheen's lawsuit against Warner Bros. seeking $100 million was settled that September for a reported $25 million.
He and Two and a Half Men creator Chuck Lorre have since made amends, with Sheen turning up as an extra version of himself on Lorre's HBO comedy Bookie in 2023.
Denise Richards Steps in to Help Care for Charlie Sheen and Brooke Mueller's Twins
With Mueller also going through a spate of personal problems, Richards—who adopted youngest daughter Eloise in 2011—stepped in to help care for her ex's sons in May 2013 after social services removed them from their mom's home.
"Charlie supports the actions of the Department of Children and Family Services," Sheen's rep said at the time. "He knows Max and Bob are safe and in a stable, loving environment with Denise and the boys' sisters."
Faced with losing her kids, Mueller entered treatment for prescription drug abuse, her rep telling USA Today, "Brooke misses her children, and wants to get healthy so she can resume her life and get back to being a mom."
In March 2025, Mueller told People that the twins were "thriving" but had witnessed a lot in their 16 years.
But she and Sheen "share custody, we co-parent without attorneys, which is great," Mueller added. "And I'm very grateful for that. The fact he gives me yet another chance shows his deep true heart underneath."
Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards' Feud Escalates on Twitter
The detente between Richards and Sheen was temporary, however, as the Anger Management star pivoted between respective ex-wife feuds.
After he accused Richards via Twitter (now X) of keeping his boys away from him during the holidays in 2013, she replied, "@charliesheen U done ranting? keep it classy dude. Our kids don't need to be privy to this, U are welcome 2 spend xmas w/us Hope u still come...@charlie sheen u were & are welcome 2 see them. I never asked 4 your plane. we love u. Please 4 our kids stop this...."
Sheen was back at it again in 2015, tweeting that June, "Brooke M is a sexy rok star whom I adore D Richards a heretic washed up piglet Shame pile Happy Father's Day!!!" He also called Richards a "shake down piece of s--t" whom he'd paid "over 30 Mil and she calls me a DbD (dead beat dad)."
Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen Continue to Fight About Money
In January 2016, Richards went after Sheen in court for $1.2 million to put toward a new home, alleging he hadn't been abiding by the terms of a trust he set up for their kids.
"It is disappointing that Denise Richards always tries to use the children to get more money for HER," Sheen's attorney Martin Singer told E! News at the time. "This has nothing to do with the extra gift that Charlie gave to his girls by establishing a trust. She has another $7 million home that was paid for from the money Charlie gave her and she wants Charlie to pay another $35,000/month for a second home and pay a down payment of $1.2 million."
He added, "$55,000/month tax free is not enough. This matter is simply money, money, money."
A year later, in January 2017, Richards posted a photo from a family dinner with Sheen, Sami, Lola and Eloise, writing, "We've had a colorful year ...at the end of the day we're still a family."
Denise Richards Marries Aaron Pyphers, Ex Charlie Sheen Is Invited
When Richards was getting ready to marry Aaron Phypers in September 2018, she invited Sheen to their wedding.
"No matter what's gone down with Charlie and I, I invite Charlie to anything having to do with the kids and I," Richards said on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, where she made her debut in 2019. "Even if he did bring a prostitute as his date, I wouldn't care. It's just, it is what it is."
Her ex-husband did not attend, but, per Entertainment Tonight, wished her "nothing but happiness."
Sami Sheen Moves in With Dad Charlie Sheen
In 2021, Sami said in a September TikTok that she had escaped the "hell house" of home life with her mom, and Sheen confirmed that his eldest daughter, then 17, was living with him.
"Sam is amazing," the actor said through his rep, per People. "I love her and all my children unconditionally. We're having a ball. GED here we come."
That October, a judge granted Sheen's request to no longer have to pay Richards child support.
“Sometime in spring, in early April, Ms. Richards had a falling out with her daughters and asked Mr. Sheen to take custody,” Sheen's lawyer Daniel Pedrick told the judge. “That has been the reality since April of this year.”
Pedrick also said in court that his client had set up a $1.2 million trust for the kids when he first filed to alter his child support payments in December 2019.
Outside the courthouse, Sheen told Us Weekly, "I think what transpired today is extremely fair."
Richards acknowledged her "strained relationship" with Sami in 2022.
"It's very difficult," she said on SiriuxXM's Jeff Lewis Live. "I know we'll get back to where we were eventually but right now, it is strained. Obviously, I would love for her to live with me. She lived with me all these years."
Sami Sheen Joins OnlyFans
When Sami joined OnlyFans in June 2022, Sheen told E! News he did "not condone" her decision. "But since I'm unable to prevent it, I urged her to keep it classy, creative and not sacrifice her integrity."
He added, "She is 18 years old now and living with her mother. This did not occur under my roof."
Where Sami was living was neither here nor there, according to Richards. "All I can do as a parent is guide her and trust her judgment," Richards told People, "but she makes her own choices."
When the Wild Things star followed suit and joined OnlyFans herself, she noted on Instagram, "I have to say, I wish I had the confidence my 18 yr old daughter has."
Denise Richards Says She Sheltered Her Daughters From the Lowest Points of Her and Charlie Sheen's Feud
As scandalous as her split from Sheen got in public, Richards said she "lied [her] ass off and covered for him" around their daughters, wanting to protect them from just how bad it was and prevent them from feeling "unsettled."
"Now as they're starting to get older," she said on an August 2022 episode of the Divorced Not Dead podcast, "they're more aware of more things. That's why I say I don't know if I did them a disservice when they were younger."
Richards recently described the extent she went to to make it seem alright.
"I would tell Charlie, ‘I don't care if you hate me,'" she told People in February 2025. "'You can think what you want to think about me. When we are at a birthday party, or a horse show, or a school function, can we please just fake it and be so kind and loving to each other in a respectful way so that the kids feel loved?’”
Where Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen Stand Now
Richards admitted that she never really thought about what she'd tell Sami and Lola when they got older. "You don’t think, ‘Oh, when they’re 19 and 20, they’re going to read about this,'" she told People. "I always thought they’ll never find out what happened and the opposite [happened]. I tell them if they ever have any questions to come to me.”
While Sami isn't feeling particularly conciliatory, posting a clip of some of her father's more extreme public comments from years past to further explain their estrangement, Sheen and Richards' public sparring days appear to be behind them.
And, Richards told People in February, he even sent her a "wonderful sweet positive text" about her latest reality TV venture, Bravo's Denise Richards & Her Wild Things. (Lunch with her ex and Lola made it into the April 1 episode, Sheen's Bravo debut.)
"He’s been supportive from day one," Richards said. When he texted, "I was actually really surprised. It meant a lot to me."