Charlie Sheen enters rehab, puts 'Two and a Half Men' in limbo

 Charlie Sheen of 'Two and a Half Men'

Credit: CBS

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Charlie Sheen has entered rehab and is taking a break from television's top-rated comedy, "Two and a Half Men," his publicist said Tuesday.

"As a preventative measure, Charlie Sheen has entered a rehabilitation facility," publicist Stan Rosenfield wrote in a four-sentence statement that did not specify why Sheen, 44, was seeking treatment. The statement sought privacy for the embattled actor.

The move comes roughly two months after Sheen was arrested after a fight with his wife at his Aspen, Colo., home. Prosecutors later charged the actor with felony menacing and misdemeanor charges of third-degree assault and criminal mischief. The most serious charge carries a maximum three-year prison term.

Sheen's wife, Brooke, is also in rehab seeking treatment for an undisclosed reason, her attorney Yale Galanter said Monday. She is still asking that the charges be dismissed, he said.

Galanter and Rosenfield confirmed Monday that Los Angeles child protective services workers visited the actor and the couple's infant sons over the weekend. Galanter and Rosenfield said it was a routine, previously scheduled visit related to the Aspen court case.

Until Tuesday, Sheen's legal problems hadn't disrupted taping of "Two and a Half Men," which is one of CBS' top shows and television's top-rated comedy.

Last week, 10.6 million people tuned into a rerun of the show, according to ratings released by the Nielsen Co.

CBS spokesman Chris Ender had no immediate comment Tuesday on Sheen entering rehab.

In early January, CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler said the network was being sensitive to what it considered a "very personal and private matter for Charlie."

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