Dear members of the media including but not limited to ABC, TMZ, NBC:
You make me sick. Sick, angry, and sad.
A celebrity is in the midst of a dire emergency and you’ve erected circus tents around him replete with cameras.
ABC? You get a special mention here because you even allowed his CHILDREN to be present at one of the many interviews you filmed with Charlie Sheen. His children.
On what planet is it okay to be cool with nearly two year old children around someone who claims to have “tiger blood?”
But it’s okay, you say.
Okay because Charlie says he’s okay.
Right.
You drug tested him. Drew blood.
Nothing there.
Guess what, ABC?
Mental illness?
Yeah. That’s not diagnosable via test tube or pee cup.
Now that you’ve “ruled out” drugs, are there plans for you to play Psychiatrist too as America watches?
I feel heartbroken for his family. For his ex wife, Denise Richards, who has now had to assure the American public that her kids have not been with Charlie these past two weeks. I feel for Brooke who is clearly in a state of confusion. I know where she’s at …. somewhat. I’ve been there. It sucks. You don’t know which way is up or down. It’s a vortex in which you do the best you can do just to stay afloat but mostly you want to collapse and scream and ask WHY?!?! But instead you go numb and trudge forward toward safety. You hope.
Charlie, a father with four children, is clearly struggling with a multitude of issues.
Instead of offering help to Charlie, you’re putting on a show for the rest of us with him as the star. You ask him things like “Do you worry about your kids learning about this?” To which he replies, “God no! What a lesson!” What kind of a lesson, exactly? That it’s okay to go crazy, seek attention, shout inane things from the top of the world, and demand that you get paid more for services you’re clearly not capable of at the moment? There is a lesson in all of this – it’s that when you hurt, you get help. When you see someone hurt, you GET them help. You don’t put them on display.
Wait. You’re the media. You do put it all on display. No matter what the moral and ethical bounds are – it’s all about the ratings. The wilder the better, right?
I’m not watching. Many people I know are not watching.
But many are… and the damage being done to those who are mentally ill and struggling with addiction by your organizations is atrocious. Here, let me serve up some stigma on a silver platter. Watch.
Have we, as a society, taught you this behaviour, through our obsession with reality TV?
Has reality TV finally blurred the line? Have we really come to this?
Is our society so starved for entertainment we are willing to watch, in real time, as a celebrity implodes live on the air?
I know it’s about ratings. If people watch, you make money on advertising, etc. Have you no soul? No decency left among you?
In my opinion, the only company that has done something right is CBS. I stand with them in canceling the rest of the season of Two and a Half Men. It’s unfair to the rest of the cast and the crew, but not to Charlie.
There needs to be someone holding him accountable for his behavior. Yes, he is an adult and shouldn’t have to have anyone treat him like he’s 12. Unfortunately, he’s also a very ill person in crisis right now. Sometimes we have to take steps back in order to regain our footing.
I sincerely ask you to stop exploiting Mr. Charlie Sheen’s tragic situation.
Your exploitation of his situation is possibly even more tragic and disturbing than Charlie’s fall from grace.
Warmest,
Lauren Hale
