Denise Richards ‘protected’ Charlie Sheen’s scandals from daughters, even when he called them from jail

Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen’s divorce was very public and rather contentious. After four years of marriage and while she was pregnant with their second daughter, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum filed for divorce citing the actor’s drug use, his threatening remarks toward her and her parents (that prompted a restraining order), and violent behaviour. And yet, she still “protected” the man because he was her daughter’s father.

Sheen has a rather chaotic history of drug abuse and violence. Back in 2011, he was fired from Two and a Half Men due to his drug-fueled rants and his erratic behaviour. Even if forgo his controversies before his divorce from Richards, he still got caught in plenty of scandals after 2006 and his ex-wife had to repeatedly lie to protect their two daughters, Sami and Lola, from it all – when Sheen got arrested for domestic violence against then-wife Brooke Mueller, faced financial troubles after dumping over $1 million on drugs and sex workers, his legal conflicts with producers and studios or when he got sued by former partners allegedly for not disclosing to them his HIV diagnosis.

The list doesn’t end.

So, Richards “sheltered” her two daughters from the truth, as she shared during an episode of the Sibling Revelry with Kate Hudson and Oliver Hudson” podcast.

“If I was at a school performance, and he was supposed to show up, and I get a call, ‘Something happened sideways, hospital, whatever,’ I’m not going to tell the kids the truth.

I lied, and I said, ‘Dad had to work.’”

Some of his scandals were admittedly “outrageously bad.” Even in these cases, Richards maintained his good reputation in the eyes of her kids. “So I did lie, and I sugar-coated, and I protected him,” she added. Like when he got arrested around Christmas and called his daughters from jail on Christmas Day.. 

“I didn’t say, ‘Your dad just got f—–g arrested, and he’s in jail so come say ‘Merry Christmas’ right now,’”

There were instances where she lied and fabricated stories about Sheen to the point that it is only now that her daughters are discovering bits and pieces of the truth, which makes them initially upset with their mother. But they are older now – Sami is 21, Lola is 19 – and while they both share widely contrasting relationships with their father, they understand what was happening when they were younger.

Richards has been opening up about her life with Sheen lately, especially how his choices in life affected her and her daughters even after they had separated legally. In an early April 2025 episode of Jana Kramer’s Whine Down, the Bravo alum addressed Sheen’s HIV diagnosis revelation in 2015 and how he didn’t even bother to inform her about his decision to announce it publicly. Richards had to rush to her daughters’ school, pick them up early because she didn’t want them learning about it from other kids, and then sit them down to explain what the serious illness meant.