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Sheen draws divorce battle lines
25/03/2005 12:23 - (SA)
Los Angeles - Former Hollywood bad boy Charlie Sheen on Thursday drew the battles lines in his divorce from actress Denise Richards, setting the scene for a battle over the custody of their children.
Sheen, 39, filed his response to the divorce that the seven-month pregnant Richards sought earlier this month in which she is demanding sole custody of their one-year-old daughter Sam and their unborn child.
In the documents filed in Los Angeles Superior court, Sheen sought shared custody of the children and said he does not want to pay the 34-year-old model and actress spousal support as she has demanded.
In ending their two and a half year marriage, Richards has sought full custody of the children, with Sheen having only visitation rights, and asked that Sheen also support her.
The couple have not said why they are divorcing. Richards cited "irreconcilable differences" as grounds for the split.
Sheen has hit back at reports that the reason for the divorce was his womanizing, while his famous father Martin Sheen has defended him against allegations of renewed drug use.
"I did not cheat on my wife. These stories and allegations are unconscionable," Sheen said in a statement. "The reason for our separation is a private matter between the two of us," he added.
"West Wing" star Martin Sheen and his wife Janet issued a statement denying reports that his son had fallen back into substance abuse after beating addiction seven years ago.
"We cannot remain silent during what appears to be a ruthless and savage attack by the media on Charlie's character," they said in a statement to Entertainment Tonight.
"To imply that he is in any way regressing to the behavior that cost him so dearly and almost ended his life just seven years ago is not only the lowest form of journalism, but sinks to the level of defamation," they said.
Richards and Sheen met when they worked on the movie Good Advice and their romance blossomed when she guest-starred on his then hit television situation comedy, Spin City. The couple married on June 15, 2002.
Sheen, whose film credits include Platoon, Wall Street, Major League and the aviation spoof Hot Shots, was previously married for five months in 1996 to model Donna Peele and has a 20-year-old daughter from a previous relationship.
Before marrying Richards, Sheen had been notorious in Hollywood for a decade as a carouser and "bad boy" actor.
He drew headlines for sex and drug exploits and brushes with the law, including a 1996 attack on a then-girlfriend that resulted in a no contest plea to assault.
Sheen was a central figure in the trial of ex-Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss in 1996 and testified to spending 50,000 dollars on prostitutes she provided between 1991 and 1993.
- AFP
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South Africa
