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Charlie Sheen says he’s Jewish and proud

March 6, 2011

LOS ANGELES (JTA) -- Actor Charlie Sheen, who has been accused of anti-Semitism, claims that he is Jewish and proud of it.

During a morning phone call March 4 to the Access Hollywood Live show, Sheen told hosts Billy Bush and Kit Hoover, “My mom [actress Janet Templeton] is Jewish. Here’s where it gets confusing -- we don’t know who her father was.

“But she is, in fact, Jewish. So I guess that would make me Jewish and my children Jewish. And Brooke [Mueller], my ex-wife, is Jewish. So I guess I should have rolled that out, too.”

A perplexed Bush told Sheen, “You’re getting accused of anti-Semitic remarks -- you might want to say, ‘By the way, I’m Jewish!' ”

Sheen responded, “I know, I know -- stupid me. I just got caught sleeping, caught napping, which is rare for me. Anywho ... But I’m proud of it. There you have it."

Sheen, 45, star of the hit TV comedy “Two and a Half Men," which has been suspended for the rest of this season and may be canceled, lashed out last month at the Anti-Defamation League following its charge that Sheen had exhibited “borderline anti-Semitism” in referring to his producer, Chuck Lorre, by his Hebrew name, Chaim Levine. Sheen has demanded an apology from the ADL.

Sheen, whose birth name is Carlos Irwin Estevez, has a long history of drug and alcohol abuse.

During the call-in, Sheen also announced that he and actor Sean Penn would travel to Haiti in support of Penn’s relief effort for the earthquake-stricken country.
 

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