On March 9, the night after episode No. 4 aired on Ustream, I went to the Laugh Factory in Hollywood to meet the comedian Tom Arnold, who is active in local recovery groups. He had been quoted in a New York Times story about Sheen: “I went to a person close to him and said, ‘This guy is in serious trouble with serious drugs. We’ve got to help him.’ And this person flat out told me to my face, ‘We make a lot of money from him. I can’t be a part of it.’ That tells you everything you need to know.”
Arnold told me, “Sorry, I can’t talk about Charlie. Things are happening now.” As Arnold walked onto the stage to start his act, I spoke to the club’s owner, Jamie Masada. “They’re going to lock Charlie up,” he said, meaning exercise Section 5150 of the California Welfare and Institutions Code, which allows a police officer or qualified clinician to confine a person with a mental disorder who could be a danger to himself or others for 72 hours of evaluation.
“Have you seen the new Charlie Sheen show?,” Tom Arnold asked the audience. “The next one I don’t want to see.”
Two days later police officers raided Sheen’s house, investigating reports that he was in possession of weapons. After finding only bullets and an antique gun, they left without incident. “Someone who is at the house tells us cops may be attempting to put Charlie on an involuntary—5150—psychiatric hold,” TMZ reported, later stating that law enforcement had denied it.
Some believed that a dramatic spectacle Sheen had made of himself earlier that week—standing atop a building in Beverly Hills waving a sword and drinking from a bottle he’d labeled Tiger Blood—was all that was needed for a 5150. But the building was the Live Nation Entertainment headquarters, where he’d just negotiated a merchandising and licensing deal and begun to hatch plans for a 20-city concert tour.
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