Charlie Sheen Files $100 Million Lawsuit -- and Boss Chuck Lorre Fires Back

Charlie Sheen Files $100 Million Lawsuit -- and Boss Chuck Lorre Fires Back

Just like he vowed on 20/20, Charlie Sheen is suing his Two and a Half Men bosses for "tons" -- and they're ready to take him on!

On Thursday, Sheen filed a $100 million-plus lawsuit against Warner Bros. and show creator Chuck Lorre, accusing them of using Sheen as a convenient excuse to cancel the show. And why, you might ask, would Chuck Lorre want to cancel his most successful show? Sheen's lawyer says it was a conspiracy to save himself money and "punish Mr. Sheen." Charlie Sheen is trying really hard to turn Chuck Lorre into the bad guy in this scenario, as this line from the lawsuit demonstrates:

Chuck Lorre, one of the richest men in television who is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, believes himself to be so wealthy and powerful that he can unilaterally decide to take money away from the dedicated cast and crew of the popular television series, 'Two and a Half Men,' in order to serve his own ego and self-interest, and make the star of the Series the scapegoat for Lorre's own conduct.

See? Charlie Sheen isn't actually crazy. He's just a scapegoat! The lawyer also alleges that Lorre fired Sheen when he was sick, which would be a violation of the law. (Although if Charlie Sheen was sick, doing cocaine for five days straight is a pretty funny way of showing it. Do you think he got a doctor's note?)

The actor filed the suit on behalf of himself and the Two and a Half Men crew, demanding that they all get paid for the eight episodes that were cancelled after Sheen's manic media blitz. Sounds generous, until you realize that Sheen (who got $1.25 million per episode) was making more than double the salary of anyone else in the cast or crew -- and that Warner Brothers has already agreed to pay everyone but Sheen for four of those eight episodes. Not to mention the fact that Charlie Sheen got the show shut down in the first place with his erratic behavior (that, and insulting Chuck Lorre on national radio).

But Chuck Lorre has a lawyer, too, and he fired back a retort a few hours later.

"The allegations in the complaint against Mr. Lorre are as recklessly false and unwarranted as Mr. Sheen's rantings in the media," the TV producer's lawyer told TMZ. "These accusations are simply imaginary.  This lawsuit is about a fantasy 'lottery' pay-day for Charlie Sheen... Chuck Lorre's concern has been and continues to be about Mr. Sheen's health."

While Sheen claims that he was fired out of the producers' spite and greed, Warner Bros. has already outlined their reasons for firing Sheen in a letter to Sheen's attorney. In addition to his "dangerously self-destructive conduct" (which the Warner Bros. refers to as "obvious"), the letter says that Sheen was forgetting lines and missing cues -- and they have outtakes to prove it. The letter also says that CBS chartered a plane to get Sheen to go to rehab, and he outright refused. Furthermore, there was apparently a "morals clause" in his contract which forbids him from doing things like, say, hiring escorts and furnishing them with drugs.

From our perspective, it doesn't sound like Sheen has much of a case -- but it does sound like Warner Bros. has enough ammo for a countersuit against its former star. How long until Charlie Sheen discovers that yelling "Winning!" doesn't get him very far in a court of law?

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Justin Bieber's 'Never Say Never' Is Third-Highest-Grossing Documentary Of All Time

Insiders say film could get nominated in documentary category at next year's Oscars.
By Gil Kaufman


Justin Bieber in "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never"
Photo: Paramount Pictures

The kid is hot. First, Justin Bieber became the first person since, well, himself to land two albums in the top five on the Billboard 200, and now his 3-D movie, "Never Say Never," has vaulted into the #3 position on the list of top-grossing documentaries of all time.

According to Box Office Mojo, "Never" has grossed $64,162,036 to date, putting it on track to possibly overtake the #2 doc of all time, "March of the Penguins," which grossed more than $77 million. It's unlikely to knock off the top documentary of all time, Michael Moore's 2004 flick "Fahrenheit 9/11," which rolled up $119 million, but with the "Never" director's cut re-release last weekend (which brought in another $9 million), Bieber is positioned to conquer yet another medium.

In his run to the top, Bieber has leaped over such lauded and popular docs as "Super Size Me," Madonna's "Truth or Dare," Moore's "Bowling for Columbine," former Vice President Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" and the nature flick "Earth." It also took the crown for the biggest opening weekend of any documentary, with a $29.5 million first weekend, squeezing past the $23 million open of "Fahrenheit."

Hollywood may end up catching Bieber Fever as well, with The Hollywood Reporter asking in a recent article whether "Never" could land the 17-year-old phenom a spot at the Oscars next year. A source told the trade magazine that "Never" had serious buzz at some post-Oscar parties thanks to its healthy grosses, which have impressed some Academy members.

"You'd be surprised at the caliber of people who came up to Justin at the Vanity Fair party at the Sunset Tower, most of whom had seen the movie and loved it," said an unnamed insider. "There was even talk of putting it up for an Oscar next year in the documentary category. People appreciate that it's not just a kids' movie." The article mentioned that Bieber was one of the brightest stars at the Fair party, chatting up Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger and working the room like a pro.

Check out everything we've got on "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never."

For young Hollywood news, fashion and "Twilight" updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com.

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Justin Bieber's Hair Gets $40,668 At Auction

Proceeds will benefit animal-rights group the Gentle Barn Foundation.
By Jocelyn Vena


Justin Bieber
Photo: Michael Loccisano/ Getty Images

Last week, shortly after the haircut heard 'round the world, Justin Bieber gave a lock of his famous hair to Ellen DeGeneres. The talk-show host graciously took the gift and promised to auction if off and give all the proceeds to charity.

In addition to the lock of hair, Bieber also signed a plastic box in which the hair would be kept. On Wednesday (March 2), 98 bids later, the Bieber memorabilia had sold for $40,668. All the proceeds from the hair will go to the Gentle Barn Foundation, a California-based animal-rights organization.

When Bieber appeared on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" to give the talk-show host the hair, he reassured her that it was, in fact, his. "Yes, it's really my hair, but there's a perk: I wanted to do something good. I'm giving pieces of it to different people," he explained during the February 23 appearance. "The thing is, we're doing something special. We want you to donate it to whatever charity you want."

He also joked about what inspired him to cut off his signature locks. "I was inspired by yours," Bieber laughed. "Yeah [people were freaking out], but I was like, 'I don't really care.' "

Perez Hilton was also one of the lucky hair recipients. On February 22, the blogger wrote, "Not only did Justin Bieber get a haircut, but the teen phenom tells us that he is going to be divvying up his shorn locks to help raise money for different charities. And, he's giving Perez some of his hair to auction off! We're working it all out now, and we can't wait to tell you what good we hope to do with Bieber's hair!"

What do you think of the final price for Justin's hair? Let us know in the comments!

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Lady Gaga Talks Paris Fashion Week Appearance, 'Born This Way'

The singer said the philosophy behind the fashion show she modeled at was about being 'really free and really free-minded.'
By Terri Schwartz


Lady Gaga at Paris Fashion Week
Photo: Francois Durand/ Getty Images

Lady Gaga took a break from taking over the airwaves with her new single "Born This Way" to hit the catwalk at Paris fashion week and take a turn as a runway model for her fashion buddy Nicola Formichetti. She wore his clothes at the Thierry Mugler Autumn/Winter 2011 show on Wednesday, and like any Gaga-related production, theatricality and fashionability were in the air.

CNN caught up with the pop star and the fashion designer in Paris to talk about their relationship and the inclusion of Gaga's music in the show. Formichetti had asked Gaga to be the musical director for their runway performance, and insisted that "Born This Way" close the event.

"[I thought that] for a fashion show, maybe he wants something a bit more underground, one of the more avant-garde records from the album, but he really wanted me to use ['Born This Way']," Lady Gaga said in the interview. "He said it represented female empowerment and that's what the song is all about, and I think that's what Nicola is all about, and I'm just really proud to be here."

When asked whether they were ever nervous about the reception of their respective works, Gaga and Formichetti said "no." Their show was, in Gaga's words, all about being "really subjective and really free and really free-minded" and "being proud to be a woman" instead of giving in to the "competition and race" that she felt criticism through the Internet has created.

"Scrutiny is like this massive thing now in this century. For Nicola and I and for everyone that we work with, it's all about your peers, it's about people that you respect. It's about knowing your own strength artistically," the singer explained. "I think if you ever backtrack or if you ever show a sign of insecurity, it shows sort of a weakness in the idea. Stop analyzing everything so much. Analysis ultimately, I think, leads to divisiveness."

When asked to comment on John Galliano, the British fashion designer who was the head designer for Christian Dior until he recently was fired for making anti-Semitic comments, Lady Gaga declined. "Let's skip that question. Let's keep it positive!" she said.

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