Selma Blair exits ‘Anger Management’ after Charlie Sheen feud
“Saturday Night Live” alumnus Will Forte stops off at the Cinefamily Theatre in Los Angeles as he promotes his new movie, “Nebraska,” with with Bruce Dern.
(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)Hugh Hefner, who founded Playboy in 1953 and turned it into a multimedia empire, remains the magazine’s editor in chief.
(Liz O. Baylen/Los Angeles Times)Actor Vin Diesel is the producer and star of the sci-fi thriller “Riddick.”
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)Director Guillermo del Toro, in the mixing studio at Warner Bros. in Burbank, has a new movie coming out called “Pacific Rim,” a shot of which is on in the background, about an alien attack threatening the Earth’s existence. Giant robots piloted by humans are deployed to fight off the menace.
(Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times)Charlie Sheen is evidently still having trouble getting along with costars.
The producers of Sheen’s FX comedy “Anger Management” confirmed late Tuesday that costar Selma Blair will be leaving the show immediately, after reports of friction with Sheen became public over the last day or so.
“We are confirming that Selma Blair will not be returning to ‘Anger Management’ and we wish her the very best,” Lionsgate, the studio behind the show, wrote in a terse statement. FX declined to comment, referring questions to Lionsgate.
PHOTOS: Hollywood Backlot moments
The website TMZ reported that Sheen went on the warpath after Blair complained to the producers about his lax work ethic. During his time on “Men,” Sheen was known for taking long weekends and skipping routine meetings and table reads. According to TMZ, Sheen gave “Anger Management” producers an ultimatum to fire Blair or he’d quit.
“Anger Management,” loosely based on the movie of the same title, has Sheen playing a retired baseball player who becomes a therapist.
The show -- which got off to a blazing start but has seen ratings sag since -- is roughly halfway through a 100-episode order and was supposed to mark Sheen’s comeback after a public meltdown that led to his firing from “Two and a Half Men.” During that debacle, Sheen heaped abuse upon his boss, executive producer Chuck Lorre, and called his costar Jon Cryer “a troll” (the latter an insult for which he subsequently apologized).
At least Sheen’s coworkers can’t say he’s dull.
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Scott Collins is a former staff reporter for the Calendar section of the Los Angeles Times. He joined the staff in 2004 after previous stints at the Hollywood Reporter and Inside.com. Author of the book “Crazy Like a Fox: The Inside Story of How Fox News Beat CNN,” he is a frequent pop-culture expert on national TV, radio shows and industry panels. He left The Times in 2016.
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