Denise Richards says ‘Two and a Half Men’ led to Charlie Sheen ‘not being sober’

Denise Richards believes “Two and a Half Men” turned Charlie Sheen into a man she didn’t recognize.

The “Wild Things” actress, 52, revealed this week on the podcast “Just B With Bethenny Frankel” that the series’ rise in popularity drove Sheen, 58, to relapse.

“I think, because the success of ‘Two and a Half Men’ and the money,” Richards said, “I think that led to him getting back into not being sober.”

“All I know is he was no longer the person that I married and no longer sober,” she said.

The “Twisted” actress and the Emmy winner were married from 2002 until 2006 and they have two daughters: Sami, 19, and Lola, 18.

Sheen soon turned back to sobriety after he was fired from the sitcom.

He got candid about his substance abuse issues on ITV’s “Loose Women” in 2019.

“It feels awful. I can’t sit there and lie to you,” he sighed. “Some of it is very surreal. To this day, I am not sure how I created such chaos and wound up in that headspace. It’s as though there was some alien or demonic possession going on.”

Ironically, without Richards, there might have only been “One and a Half Men.”

The “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” cast member says she encouraged Sheen to take on the role of Charlie Harper in the wildly successful CBS show.

Richards said Sheen “got ‘Two and a Half Men’ while I was pregnant” with their daughter Sami.

“He was nervous about starting a new TV show after ‘Spin City’ got canceled,” she continued. “By the way, I read the script for [‘Two and a Half Men’] and said, ‘You have to do this show.’”

After Michael J. Fox left ABC’s “Spin City” in 2000 to deal with his Parkinson’s disease, Sheen took over his spot until the comedy ended in 2002.

“He was going to do a different show,” Richards continued. “And I read the script and I go, ‘You’re crazy for not doing this.’”

“Two and a Half Men” aired from 2003 until 2015, with Sheen actor leaving in 2011.

He departed the show due to having a feud with creator Chuck Lorre. He was replaced by Ashton Kutcher.