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'He brought a hooker to Thanksgiving.' Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen's tumultuous marriage.

This post deals with alleged domestic violence and might be triggering for some readers.

In 2019 in a segment on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Denise Richards said to her best friend Patrick Muldoon: "My ex-husband’s aged me terribly I think."

That ex-husband, of course, is Charlie Sheen.

In the segment, Richards recalled an unusual Thanksgiving dinner she shared with Sheen and a sex worker he brought along to the occasion.

"Charlie came over for Thanksgiving for dinner a few years ago, and he had a hooker in the car in the driveway," she said. "He was afraid to tell me. 'Uh, you know, well, she's in the driveway. Is it OK if she's in the driveway?' I said, 'Ugh, I'll set a f**king plate'."

At the time of the admission and its worldwide broadcast, Sheen was reportedly furious Richards brought it up. However, she later spoke further about the bizarre family meal on the popular Daddy Issues podcast.

During the episode, she discussed how her she reacted to the stranger joining them for the festivities.

"He (Sheen) told me, 'Hey, I want you to know so and so's here, don't worry she's going to be in the car in the driveway while we eat dinner'," Richards recalled. "I'm like, 'I cannot have her sitting in the driveway'."

The story is ultimately one small example of the tumultuous relationship that Sheen and Richards have shared over the years. 

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Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen when they were married. Image: Getty. Richards, 52, and Sheen, 57, were married from June 2002 to November 2006. They co-parent (not always easily, Denise says) their daughters Sami, 19, and Lola, 18, after going through a nasty split and custody battle.

Richards and Sheen met in 2000 while filming Good Advice, but they didn't begin dating until 2001 after Richards appeared on Spin City.

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By their second date, Richards said she knew Sheen was "the one".

"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," she said.

Sheen proposed on Boxing Day 2001. During their engagement, Sheen had Richards' name tattooed on his wrist and after their wedding on June 15, 2002, Richards decided to get a similar one for him. She's since had it covered.

During their marriage, Richards and Sheen continued to work together when Richards took on a recurring role on Sheen's sitcom Two and a Half Men.

In March 2005, while seven months pregnant with their second daughter Lola, Richards filed for divorce. They briefly reconciled after Lola's birth, but a year later in April 2006, she filed again.

Image: Getty. The divorce was... well, it was one of the messiest divorces we can recall.

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According to the Daily Beast, in 2006 during an intense custody hearing, Richards obtained a restraining order. She claimed Sheen threatened to murder her and watched "disturbing porn".

"I told the Respondent that if the Respondent proceeded with his threats to take me to Court over the children for overnight visitation, that I would have to tell the truth about what he had done. He told me that 'I will never get to Court because I will be f**king dead!' He told me to enjoy my parents 'while they are still around.' I took this to mean that he was not only going to do me harm but also do harm to my parents," Richards explained in the filing.

"In December of 2005, the Respondent and I took a vacation in Barbados without our children. It was my intention to discuss certain serious matters with the Respondent during this trip and to try and understand why the Respondent was participating in certain activities, which were repulsive to me and to convince him to seek help for the sake of our children," she said.

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"Prior to our trip, I learned that the Respondent was accessing gay pornography sites which I found even more disturbing because I felt that the boys looked underage," she added.

At the time, Sheen denied the claims that he threatened to kill Richards.

"That's not who I am, I wouldn't do that," he told Mehmet Oz.

Since the divorce, Richards and Sheen's relationship has regularly gone from toxic to amicable to toxic again.

Sheen went on to marry Brooke Mueller in 2008. They divorced in 2010 following allegations of domestic abuse and in 2012 and 2013, Richards acted as a temporary guardian to their twin sons, Bob and Max, while Mueller went to rehab.

"Brooke knows anytime, and Charlie, that any time they need help with the boys, that I'm there," Richards told Access Hollywood in 2011.

"They're our family and they're Sam and Lola's brothers and I can't imagine growing up without my sister, so anytime she needs help, I'm there for the boys... I know it doesn't seem normal, but it is our normal. They're little kids and I love children, and like I said, it's our daughter's brothers, so I can't say no."

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In 2014, Sheen dated former porn star Brett Rossi and kicked Richards and their children out of the mansion he bought for them in his gated community. He also announced on Twitter he was going to reduce the US$55,000 he paid her in child support.

In 2016, Richards sued Sheen for raiding a $7 million trust that was meant for their daughters and for evicting them from their home. In 2018, Richards married her partner Aaron Phypers and they've remained together since.

In 2021, Richards and Sheen's relationship with their eldest daughter, Sami, came under the spotlight. The then-17-year-old made headlines when she posted a TikTok video claiming she had been living in an "abusive household". 

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Listen to The Spill: The video that destroyed Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen's family. Post continues after audio.


In the video, which has since been set to private, Sami shared footage of her looking upset with the caption, "One year ago today: trapped in an abusive household, hated myself, would go days without eating or sleeping, insanely depressed, hated school, etc…"

The video then cut to a clip of her smiling with the caption, "Now: finally moved out of the hell house, had a spiritual awakening, own two cats, happy single, full of self love, and dropped out of high school :)."

While Sami did not specify which parent she was living with at the time of the alleged abuse in 2020, Sheen later confirmed that Sami was living with him when she created the TikTok video. 

Posts from Sami's now deleted TikTok. Image: TikTok  A source tells Us that Richards and Sheen simply have very different parenting styles. 

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"Denise is just like any other divorce parent dealing with a rebellious teenage daughter," the source said. "It's better for Sami if Denise and Charlie were co-parenting her during this time. They are not. Sami is living with Charlie at his apartment in Malibu."

They added: "Denise wants her daughters to have boundaries, not be out all hours of the night, and she has no desire to be their friend at this time of their life. The time will come later as the girls grow older for Denise to be their friend. Charlie is the good time dad, and well, rules and curfew aren’t really set in stone. And that is why Sami went to live with her dad."

Richards has previously spoken about the struggles of parenting teenagers on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. 

"I’m struggling with parenting right now with my teenagers. Sami, I think sometimes she does things hoping to get a reaction out of me. It's not easy," she said in May 2020.

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Meanwhile, Richards and Sheen have worked hard to have a civil relationship.

Richards told People in 2019 that she had no regrets about their relationship, or the more-than-a-decade of drama that followed it.

"I was never bitter about my divorce," she said. "Going through everything, it changed me. But I love life and I'm a glass-half-full kind of person. And I did my best to rise above it. No matter what happens, Charlie can call me at any point," Richards added. 

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"I don't see our relationship as a failure. It's a journey. It went a different way than we anticipated, but that's okay. And I will always be a good friend to him."

The couple have recently been met with a few more parenting challenges. In 2022, their daughter Sami announced via Instagram that she was starting her own OnlyFans account. 

Sheen told E! News he does "not condone" his daughter's decision to become a member of the adult subscription service. 

"She is 18 years old now and living with her mother. This did not occur under my roof. But since I'm unable to prevent it, I urged her to keep it classy, creative and not sacrifice her integrity," he said. 

However, Richards told People that the choice "wasn't based on whose house she lives in".

She said: "All I can do as a parent is guide her and trust her judgment, but she makes her own choices."

Sheen later changed his tune, telling Us Weekly: "Denise has illuminated a variety of salient points, that in my haste, I overlooked and dismissed.

"Now more than ever, it’s essential that Sami have a united parental front to rely upon, as she embarks on this new adventure. From this moment forward, she’ll have it abundantly."

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Sami celebrated a year on the subscription-based platform recently and clarified how she earns an income on there.

"I am not a [porn] star and I don’t meet up with people. I don’t film myself having sex. I don’t do that," the 19-year-old explained in a TikTok video.

"The only reason I said I’m a [sex] worker is because my main source of income is from my [OnlyFans]. And if people did their f**king research, they would realise that there are multiple forms of [sex] work."

If this post brings up any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service. It doesn’t matter where you live, they will take your call and, if need be, refer you to a service closer to home.

You can also call safe steps 24/7 Family Violence Response Line on 1800 015 188 or visit www.safesteps.org.au for further information.

The Men's Referral Service is also available on 1300 766 491 or via online chat at www.ntv.org.au

This post was originally published on August 8, 2019, and has been updated with new information since.

Feature Image: Getty.

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