Charlie Sheen, Sean Penn to Team Up in Haiti
Penn says the troubled actor has a lot to offer the island country.
March 05, 2011— -- After his whirlwind week of media appearances, Charlie Sheen is now going to be focusing his exceptional energy in one of the last places you'd expect: the ongoing Haitian relief effort.
Speaking with "Access Hollywood" earlier on Friday, Sheen had said that he and his friend Penn were planning a trip to Haiti and that he wants to help focus the attention of the world back on the devastated Caribbean nation.
He did not indicate when they would be leaving.
"I'm excited as hell because, you know, if I can bring the attention of the world down there, then clearly this tsunami keeps cresting," Sheen told Billy Bush on "Access Hollywood."
According to Oscar winner and long-time Sheen friend Sean Penn, the troubled actor has a lot to offer the island country that was devastated by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in January 2010 that killed an estimated 316,000 people.
"I think his energies, intelligence and passion could be both of service and servicing to him, as it is to all who are touched by the struggle of the Haitian people," Penn said in a statement Friday.
"Charlie is one of the very few public people who cannot be accused of using the media to his own benefit. I would very much like to show my old friend the world of needs on the ground in Haiti, and introduce him and his tremendous wit to our hard working Haitian staff," Penn added.
Since the earthquake hit Haiti on January 12, Penn has become a major spokesman of relief efforts to help the estimated 1.3 million people who lost their homes.
"This is where I'll be when I'm not working, for the rest of my life," Penn told The Hollywood Reporter shortly after the earthquake hit.
"If [Sheen] chooses to give support, I'll trust it," Penn said of Sheen.
Charlie Sheen Says He Is Clean and Sober
Sheen, 45, sat down for an interview with ABC News at his home earlier this week where he was surrounded by his two girlfriends and the two sons he shares with ex-wife Brooke Mueller. The controversial actor said he wanted to respond to all his recent headline-making actions, including his public feud with his hit show's creator, Chuck Lorre, and show that he's now living a clean life.
At the end of January, Sheen voluntarily checked into a rehab facility following a brief hospitalization and partying spree. His decision to go to rehab prompted CBS Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television to put "Two and a Half Men" on an indefinite hiatus. Sheen later decided to undergo rehab at home.
Sheen said he no longer craved the feeling of being on drugs, saying it "bored the hell out of [him] after a while." Despite his track record, which includes three stints in rehab, Sheen said he was not worried about relapsing.
The sitcom star says he is now clean and sober. Sheen could not pinpoint the last time he took drugs, saying it was about six weeks or a month ago, but that it was shortly before CBS suspended production of his hit show for the rest of the season.