- NEW YORK: Tracking celebrities in trouble used to be so easy.
- First, there was the problem, then a public apology followed by a trip to rehab and interview in People magazine or on Oprah Winfrey’s talk show.
Now, there’s Charlie Sheen.
The actor’s eerie, self-made webcasts dubbed “Sheen’s Korner,” posted online this week to mock his former “Two and a Half Men” bosses and defend himself, mark celebrity behavior that has gone beyond the norm. And his Web rants may signal a future in which stars use the Internet to give fans unfettered access to their antics, for better or worse.
“Since YouTube, digital culture has aided and enhanced — or maybe the better word is abetted — the celebrity meltdown,” said Wired magazine senior editor Nancy Miller. “This will be a future where we see celebrity screw-ups happen in real-time.”
Sheen’s expletive-filled webcasts show him agitated, smoking cigarettes through his nose, spewing energetic rants and repeating the same phrases over and over. Even celebrity website TMZ, which is known for publishing videos of outrageous celebrity antics, labeled Sheen’s videos “disturbing.”
His behavior contrasts to pop star Britney Spears’ when she suffered her career meltdown in 2007 and 2008. At that time, most of her antics were detailed the traditional way, by the paparazzi. She eventually found treatment, had her affairs taken over by her father and got her life back on track.
Sheen has done just the opposite, making decisions on everything that goes on around him and pouring out his unchecked views to fans via online videos and tweets.
“The more out-of-control the situation has become, the more he has broadcast himself - literally streaming his opinions, views and rants,” said People magazine assistant editor Kate Coyne, adding Sheen has invited people to watch his apparent breakdown “as it occurs, which is unprecedented.”



