Denise Richards Admitted She Felt 'A Lot Of Guilt' Divorcing 'Very Toxic' Charlie Sheen But Was Just 'Protecting Her Children'

Apr 07, 2022 by apost team

Actors Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen are both well known in their own right, so when they got together in the early 2000s, they instantly became one of Hollywood's most-talked-about "It" couples. Richards, who is best known for playing a beautiful Bond Girl in "The World is not Enough," as well as her roles in fan favorites "Starship Troopers," "Wild Things," and "Drop Dead Gorgeous," among others, met Sheen in 2000 on the set of the film "Good Advice." 

Richards went on to guest star on Charlie's show "Spin City" in 2001, which is when the two stars began dating. The couple became engaged just a few short months later, in December 2001, before marrying the following June at "Spin City" creator Gary David Goldberg's estate. 

In just a few years, the newlywed couple would have two beautiful daughters — Sami Sheen, who was born in March 2004, and Lola Sheen, who was born in 2005. But despite seeming like the picture of Hollywood happiness from the outside, their relationship began to crack publicly, and it seems it was mostly due to Charlie's hard-partying ways, something he was known for since his youth. 

In an episode of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills," as reported by Today, Richards opened up about the breakdown of her marriage, saying that it changed "rapidly" around the time she got pregnant with Lola. Soon after, Charlie's private problems became public knowledge, leading to a huge fall from grace that would impact Denise and their two children as well for years to come.

Ultimately, Richards filed for divorce in March 2005, and it was finalized by November 2006. Richards recalled:

"A lot of people have an impression of me being wild and crazy, but Charlie was sober when we got married, so we were not this swinging couple that people might assume."

She went on to discuss when she got pregnant with Lola, "It was a very dark time and very toxic, and I filed for divorce when I was six months pregnant with her." 

She told 'The View:'

"I was very vulnerable, I had two babies and I just wanted to know that I did everything I could to make the marriage and the family unit work. I had a lot of guilt splitting up our family, I was a mom protecting her children."

Following her public divorce, Richards admitted she struggled to find acting work, "When I was going through my divorce it was so public I could not get a job. I couldn't even get a meeting with people and I could not understand why my personal life would affect my career." 

Fortunately, it didn't take too long before the actress was back to work on tv series as well as feature films. Most recently, Denise Richards broke her silence as she became a cast member on "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills," where America and the world were able to pull back the curtain on her life. Throughout Richard's two seasons as a cast member, fans get to see a side of the star the world hadn't yet been privy to. 

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The show depicts Richard's new and modern life of laidback luxury, lots of laughter, and what seems like real happiness from the reality star and longtime actress. The Bravo reality series also shows Denise introducing her adopted special needs daughter, Eloise, who she adopted in 2011. From her public divorce to new beginnings, fans are also introduced to Richard's new husband, Aaron Phypers.

 Despite having been broken up for over 15 years now, Denise and Sheen are still very much in each other's lives. These days, Charlie Sheen is being transparent about his rocky past and how that impacted people like Denise, "To this day I am not sure how I created such chaos and wound up in that headspace. I was- I'm not even responsible enough to be avaliable for my children's needs," he said referring to his rocky past. 

Now that their two daughters are growing into young women- in a 2019 episode of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills," Richards revealed, as reported by Today, "No matter what's gone down with Charlie and I, I invite Charlie to everything having to do with the kids and I." This included her second wedding to her now-husband, Aaron Phypers. 

As of recently, Denise said she and Sheen remain close friends, "No matter what happens, Charlie can call me at any point," "I don't see our relationship as a failure. It's a journey. It went on a different way than we anticipated, but that's okay. And I will always be a good friend to him." 

Why do you think Denise is able to have a good standing relationship with Charlie all these years later? Let us know, and be sure to pass this article on to any Denise or Charlie fans you know!