Entertainment Briefs Feb. 25, 2010
Publicist: Sheen enters rehab
LOS ANGELES - Charlie Sheen's publicist announced Tuesday the actor has entered rehab and is taking a break from television's top-rated comedy, "Two and a Half Men," prompting the network to announce it is temporarily halting production of the show.
"As a preventative measure, Charlie Sheen has entered a rehabilitation facility," publicist Stan Rosenfield wrote in a four-sentence statement that did not specify why Sheen, 44, was seeking treatment. The statement sought privacy for the embattled actor.
Sheen's bosses expressed support for the actor in a statement that said production of "Two and a Half Men" would temporarily stop.
"CBS, Warner Bros. Television and (Executive Producer) Chuck Lorre support Charlie Sheen in his decision today to begin voluntary inpatient care at a treatment center," the statement said. "We wish him nothing but the best as he deals with this personal matter."
The statement offered no timetable for when the show would resume taping.
The move comes roughly two months after Sheen was arrested after a fight with his wife at his Aspen, Colo., home. Prosecutors later charged the actor with felony menacing and misdemeanor charges of third-degree assault and criminal mischief. The most serious charge carries a maximum three-year prison term.
Assistant District Attorney Arnold Mordkin said Tuesday he had not heard about Sheen entering rehab and could not discuss what bearing it might have on the case.
Sheen's wife, Brooke, is also in rehab seeking treatment for an undisclosed reason, her attorney Yale Galanter said Monday. She is still asking that the charges be dismissed, he said.
Galanter and Rosenfield confirmed Monday that Los Angeles child protective services workers visited the actor and the couple's infant sons over the weekend. Galanter and Rosenfield said it was a routine, previously scheduled visit related to the Aspen court case.
Galanter did not immediately return a phone message Tuesday.
Until Tuesday, Charlie Sheen's legal problems hadn't disrupted taping of "Two and a Half Men," one of CBS' top shows and television's top-rated comedy.
The comedy was averaging 14.7 million weekly viewers before Charlie Sheen's arrest. Recent new episodes have drawn nearly 18 million viewers, and 10.6 million people tuned in last week for a rerun, according to ratings released by the Nielsen Co.
The show, about the romances and family life of two brothers (Sheen and Jon Cryer), is the anchor of CBS' Monday comedy lineup, which also includes "The Big Bang Theory" and "How I Met Your Mother."
'Wardrobe' fine to be reconsidered
PHILADELPHIA - A federal appeals court will re-examine the FCC fine it threw out against CBS over Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show.
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia on Tuesday will consider whether the FCC's $550,000 fine for the broadcaster over the breast-baring performance is permissible.
The U.S. Supreme Court last year directed the lower court to consider reinstating the fine, following a ruling in another case that said the FCC could threaten fines even for fleeting profanity.
The lower court threw out the fine in 2008, saying the FCC acted arbitrarily and capriciously in issuing the fine for the half-second of nudity.
Vogue's Wintour to be honored
NEW YORK - Already considered one of the most powerful people in fashion, Vogue's Anna Wintour is headed to the Magazine Editors' Hall of Fame.
The American Society of Magazine Editors announced Monday that Wintour would be honored at its annual gala in April.
"Throughout her career, Anna Wintour has exemplified the highest standards of taste, in both journalism and fashion," said Sid Holt, ASME's chief executive, in a statement. "She has defined style for a generation of magazine readers and come to epitomize the essential qualities of editorial leadership."
Vogue is the standard-bearer of the high-fashion glossy magazines; it's 2009 average circulation was 1,269,640. Wintour was named editor in chief in 1988. She had earlier been Vogue's creative director as well as the top editor at British Vogue and House & Garden.
Previous ASME honorees include Martha Stewart, Tina Brown, Helen Gurley Brown and Hugh Hefner.