Sheen canned from sitcom after extended public meltdown

Warner Bros. Television has fired actor Charlie Sheen from its comedy "Two and a Half Men" after a two-week public meltdown by the star that has included attacks on the show's creator.

"After careful consideration, Warner Bros. Television has terminated Charlie Sheen's services on 'Two and a Half Men,' effective immediately," the company said in a statement issued Monday.

"This is very good news," Sheen said in a statement to TMZ. "They continue to be in breach, like so many whales.

"It is a big day of gladness at the Sober Valley Lodge because now I can take all of their bazillions ... and I never have to put on those silly shirts for as long as this warlock exists in the terrestrial dimension."

Sheen, 45, has been known for his highly publicized marital, legal and substance abuse problems as much as his acting. The show was put on hiatus after he entered a rehabilitation program in January, and production was halted after Sheen blasted show co-creator Chuck Lorre and Alcoholics Anonymous in a February 24 radio interview.

He has followed that up with a series of interviews in which he threatened to sue television network CBS for shutting down the nearly 8-year-old show, demanded a raise from $2 million to $3 million per episode and insisted he was "clean, focused and ready to get back to work."

"I feel more alive, I feel more focused, I feel more energetic," Sheen told CNN's "Piers Morgan Tonight" last week. "I'm on a quest to claim absolute victory on every front."

Sheen then joined the microblogging site Twitter, racking up more than 1.3 million followers in little more than a day -- a pace that has made the Guinness Book of World Records. His account currently lists more than 2 million followers.

Amid his professional squabbles with Warner Bros. and CBS, Sheen's estranged wife, Brooke Mueller, won a court order removing their twin sons from Sheen's home after she told authorities he had threatened to cut her head off, "put it in a box and send it to your mom." In an interview with NBC's "Today Show," Sheen denied making the threat and insisted the quote was fabricated.

Sheen earlier pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge involving Mueller in August 2010, receiving a sentence of 30 days probation, as well as rehabilitation and anger-management counseling. The following October, adult-film actress Capri Anderson accused Sheen of terrorizing her during a drunken rampage in a room at the Plaza Hotel in New York; Sheen sued her in November, claiming she tried to extort money from him.

And Sheen's second wife, Denise Richards, accused Sheen of physically and verbally abusing her and threatening her life. She obtained a restraining order against him in 2006. The couple divorced that year, and Richards has custody of their two daughters.

Warner Bros. Television is a division of Time Warner Inc., also the parent company of CNN.