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Charlie Sheen: 'Defeat is not an option'

By the CNN Wire Staff
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Sheen show halted after radio rant
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Producers picked "a fight with the wrong guy"
  • "Sheen's statements, conduct and condition" led to the shutdown, CBS says
  • The show's producer "can't handle the truth," Sheen tells TMZ
  • Four new episodes were to begin production next week

Los Angeles (CNN) -- Actor Charlie Sheen on Friday declared "we are at war" following canceled production of the hit CBS sitcom "Two and a Half Men" and his impending loss of $1.2 million per episode.

"They know what they did is wrong," Sheen, who claimed he is clean, said in a call from the Bahamas to the "Loose Cannons" radio program.

Producers cited Charlie Sheen's actions and statements when they announced they were calling off production for the rest of the season.

"Defeat is not an option," Sheen said in the Friday interview with "Loose Cannons" host Pat O'Brien. "They picked a fight with the wrong guy. They are in absolute breach."

"They kept telling me how to live my personal life," said Sheen, making repeated references to money he brought to the network. "It was a toxic environment for eight years."

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The actor, who began rehab treatments at his home in the wake of an emergency hospital visit in January, told ABC's "Good Morning America" in text messages Friday he is going to show up for work anyway.

Sheen appeared to challenge producers to take action Thursday when he went on a rant as a guest on "The Alex Jones Radio Show."

"I was told if I went on the attack, they would cancel the show and all that, so I'm just sort of seeing if they're telling the truth or not," Sheen told Jones.

The decision to halt "Two and a Half Men" was announced Thursday after Sheen spoke with the Jones show.

"Based on the totality of Charlie Sheen's statements, conduct and condition, CBS and Warner Bros. Television have decided to discontinue production of 'Two and a Half Men' for the remainder of the season," the network and studio said in a joint statement Thursday. Warner Bros. Television is owned by Time Warner Inc., the parent company of CNN.

CBS placed the sitcom on "production hiatus" after the actor began rehab treatments. The show had been scheduled to resume taping on four more episodes next week.

It's not clear if "Two and Half Men" will return for a ninth season. Industry insiders estimate that the show has already grossed $400 million in reruns, putting total syndication fees for the 177 shows at a cool $1 billion.

A Warner Brothers spokesman said that at least 250 members of the cast and crew will be out of work during the canceled production. Sheen said the employees should be focused, patient and to understand "there are ways to deal with these clowns and take all their money."

Sheen said on the Jones show that he was dealing "with fools and trolls" and people with "loser lives."

He also had some unkind words for Alcoholics Anonymous.

"This bootleg cult, arrogantly referred to as Alcoholics Anonymous, reports a 5% success rate. My success rate is 100%. Do the math. ... Another one of their mottoes is 'Don't be special, be one of us.' Newsflash: I am special, and I will never be one of you! I have a disease? Bulls**t! I cured it with my brain, with my mind," Sheen told the show.

The actor also went after show co-creator Chuck Lorre.

A short time after the cancellation was announced, Sheen sent a statement to celebrity news website TMZ.

"I gracefully ignored this folly for 177 shows," Sheen wrote to TMZ. "I fire back once and this contaminated little maggot can't handle my power and can't handle the truth."

Sheen's battle with producers is in sharp contrast to the kind words he had for them earlier this month when he thanked network executives for their support.

"I have a lot of work to do to be able to return the support I have received from so many people," Sheen said in a statement then. "Like Errol Flynn, who had to put down his sword on occasion, I just want to say, 'Thank you.' "

Lorre had no comment Friday.

Sheen's father, actor Martin Sheen, told Sky News earlier this week he likened Sheen's addiction to having cancer.

"If he had cancer how would we treat him?" the elder Sheen asked. "The disease of addiction is a form of cancer and you have to have a equal measure of concern and love and lift them up. That's what we do for him."

Addiction specialist Dr. Drew Pinsky told HLN on Friday that Charlie Sheen "is clearly manic."

Pinsky said Sheen is exhibiting traits of advanced addiction, which he said has a grave prognosis without proper treatment.

"When their workplace is affected, that's when you know things are really bad," said Pinsky, whose new HLN show premieres April 4.

Another Sheen radio interview last week raised concern about the actor's stability.

Sheen, talking on "The Dan Patrick Show," advised people to stay away from crack cocaine "unless you can manage it socially."

He told Patrick then that he was ready to return to the show.

"I healed really quickly, but I also unravel really quickly, so get me right now guys," Sheen said. "Get me right now."

Sheen was "very, very intoxicated, also apparently in a lot of pain" on the morning of January 27, according to a 911 call from a doctor who had just talked to the actor.

Porn actress Kacey Jordan has told media outlets that a two-day party preceded Sheen's collapse.

Paramedics went to Sheen's Los Angeles home and then took him by ambulance to a hospital, where he spent several hours. While his representative blamed a hernia for Sheen's pain, he later announced the actor was undergoing rehab at home.

CNN's Alan Duke, Aaron Smith and Brittany Kaplan contributed to this report.