- Jenny McCarthy and Charlie Sheen have a history
- After starring in Two and a Half Men together, there was tension
- Jenny reportedly attacked Charlie Sheen after the show
For Jenny McCarthy and Charlie Sheen, an on-screen romance erupted into controversy in 2015.
McCarthy had featured as a guest star on Sheen's sitcom, Two and a Half Men, for a stretch of episodes in 2007. She played "Courtney Leopold," one of the many girlfriends of Sheen's "Charlie Harper."
Fans enjoyed McCarthy's time with the series — but they didn't expect to relive it nearly a decade later. That's just what happened, though, when Sheen went public with his HIV-positive diagnosis in 2015 and McCarthy angrily responded.
Two and a Half Men: Jenny McCarthy attacks Charlie Sheen
The unexpected war of words began in November 2015, when McCarthy addressed Sheen's revelation on her radio show. Her comments came two days after the actor went public with his HIV-positive diagnosis, which he said he'd been aware of since 2011.
McCarthy said: "Playing even his love interest on [Two and a Half Men], back in the day, I go, 'Ick! That's not fair. It's scary.' I have sympathy for him because, you know, he's sick and it's awful, but man, he's going to have to take some major accountability with many people in his life."
She continued, "Before we do a job, we have to sign a piece of paper that says, 'Do you have cold sores?' You would think that there would be some type of—I don't want to say, not criminal issue, but I don't even know how to feel about that.
"I'm like, wait a second, 'If I have to be up front about a herpes, how could you not be up front about HIV?' I look back and I'm like, 'OK, that would have been some valuable information. Look how many people have played his love interest on the show. Not that you can obviously get it through kissing, but still, that's a big deal'."
But McCarthy, who's known for her controversial anti-vaccine and healthcare views, was largely criticized for her comments, seeing as she and Sheen shared only a kiss, light contact, and set spaces on Two and a Half Men. The actor's manager debunked McCarthy's accusations, too, releasing a statement that said: "Charlie was infected long after he left Two and a Half Men and long after he worked with Jenny."
Following the backlash, McCarthy clarified her comments in a Twitter statement, with emphasis on the industry double standard. "I am very aware that HIV is not spread through kissing, but I also believe that if an actress has to disclose all of her business before kissing a male co-star, that actor should be required to disclose something [as] major as an HIV diagnosis," she wrote.
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Sheen himself later addressed McCarthy's comments in 2017. "Your maths skills are s**t, I didn't have it then," he said on an Australian radio show. "If she's listening, Jenny, you're an absolute rock star and a doll, but my gosh."
"Jenny McCarthy should go back and murder her maths teacher. Why? Because her simple maths skills are s**t," the actor, who's no stranger to wars of words, added.
But the rift between the former co-stars appears to have ended with Sheen's reopening of the controversy in 2017. In recent years, the ex-Two and a Half Men lead has made headlines primarily for his efforts at improving his health.
