Charlie Sheen explained real reason he left Two and a Half Men despite earning $2 million per episode

Charlie Sheen made his departure from Two and a Half Men in 2011 following eight years on the show.

In the CBS sitcom, Sheen played Charlie Harper for the first eight seasons.

However, Sheen, now 59, had a very public fallout with Two and A Half Men creator, Chuck Lorre, when he made a bunch of insulting comments towards the show runner.

The show's ninth season started off with Sheen's character having been killed off and was replaced by Ashton Kutcher, and in 2015, Two and a Half Men came to an end.

In his scathing statement, the Machete Kills star called Lorre a 'clown' and a 'stupid, stupid man', with PEOPLE reporting that at the time, Sheen was struggling with alcohol and drug addiction - a time in which the star has said was an 'alien version of himself'.

Last year marked 'six years sober' for Sheen, who said that he has a 'very consistent lifestyle now'.

Following his termination from the show, he appeared on the Katie Couric's talk show in 2013, and revealed why he was let go of a gig that earned him a whopping $2 million (£1.57 million) a week.

"I think I just started partying too hard. I was having way too much fun," he said.

Sheen was very honest about his exit from the show (CBS)

Agreeing with Couric that the 'show was getting in the way of his social life', the actor admitted: "It spilled over onto the set a little bit. I mean, I wasn't partying on the set, I was never high when I worked. But no, that was that became secondary.

"And what, what became the thrust of what I was saying, you know, curious to pursue was like traveling on my weeks off and inviting all my buddies.

"And, I'm eating steak, everybody's eating steak."

When asked why he gave up so much money, he added: "You make a very good point, make a very good point, but at the same time, you want to have fun having that type of success, right?

"But I, you know, I take things too far. It's who I am."

Thankfully, it seems Sheen and Lorre have patched things up since then, and the Hot Shots! star has expressed regret for his 'desperately juvenile' actions multiple times, telling Yahoo! Entertainment in 2021: "There was 55 different ways for me to handle that situation, and I chose number 56."

Jon Cryer played Alan, Charlie's brother on the show (CBS)

Reuniting for Bookie, Lorre’s Max TV series, Sheen said to The New York Post in 2023: "The anxiety that I had prior to our first chat was a tsunami.

"Chuck got on the phone and couldn’t have been more lovely or engaging. It was so healing. And it was so surreal when the little voice in your head keeps saying, ‘This can’t be happening’.

"It was like a really fun dream you’re having. It was just so refreshing and liberating. I felt like so much weight had been lifted. It was hard for me to reach out just because of the amount of shame I’ve lived under for all these years."

It seemed the anxious feeling was also mutual for Lorre, who told PEOPLE yesterday (11 December) that he felt 'nervous' before their reunion: "Almost as soon as we started talking, I remembered, we were friends once. And that friendship just suddenly seemed to be there again."

"It was healing."