Charlie Sheen has clarified recent revelations about sexual encounters with men, insisting his experiences were not what many immediately imagine.
The 60-year-old actor, whose memoir and Netflix docuseries have prompted renewed scrutiny of his past, sought to reframe remarks that circulated after his book and film. Speaking at length with interviewer Graham Bensinger, Sheen said the phrase 'sex with men' can be misleading and that his encounters, which he links to a chaotic, drug-fuelled period of his life, were not 'full-flown' penetrative acts.
The comments follow candid disclosures in his memoir, The Book of Sheen, and the two-part Netflix documentary, aka Charlie Sheen, which detail his battles with addiction and attempts at public contrition.
Clarification an a Loaded Phrase
On the episode of In Depth With Graham Bensinger, Sheen addressed a public shorthand that arose after he publicly recounted sexual experimentation. 'When people say "sex with men," you immediately think of, like, butt sex,' he said, adding 'it wasn't that' and apologising for the graphic image the phrase can conjure.
@tmz Charlie Sheen recently dropped a bombshell admitting he’s hooked up with men -- but hold up, he’s clearing the air, saying it wasn’t that kind of hookup. FULL STORY IN BIO! 🎥: In Depth with Graham Bensinger
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He emphasised he was not trying to diminish what happened but to explain that the category can encompass a wide range of encounters and behaviours.
Sheen told Bensinger that the encounters occurred during what he described as the height of his crack addiction and 'wild' era, a time he has revisited extensively in both his memoir and Netflix documentary.
He framed his new disclosures as part of a wider effort to be transparent about past mistakes, describing the act of talking about them as 'liberating'. Those remarks were first aired in conversations surrounding the release of aka Charlie Sheen and the publication of The Book of Sheen.
Context: Addiction, Public Confessions, and The Wider Narrative
The episode sits within a longer arc of public confessions. Sheen has long been open about substance misuse, a very public firing from Two and a Half Men, and, in 2015, his HIV-positive diagnosis, all milestones that shaped media coverage of his life.
In interviews and appearances promoting his memoir and documentary, he has repeatedly connected the sexual encounters to a time of impaired judgment rather than an adult, considered expression of sexuality. Commentators and outlets covering the Bensinger interview have echoed that framing.
Still, the public reaction has been mixed. Some observers welcomed a frankness they say cuts through tabloid euphemism; others criticised the actor for phrasing that they argue risks perpetuating stigma around male same-sex encounters.
Reporting on the interview has ranged from straightforward transcription to sensational headlines focusing on the 'butt sex' remark, a dynamic that Sheen himself acknowledged when he sought to be precise about what he meant.
Why the Distinction Matters
The debate around Sheen's choice of words reveals broader social tensions about sexual labels, shame, and the ways celebrity confessions are consumed. For advocates and commentators, precision matters: what a public figure discloses shapes public understanding, conversations about bisexuality and same-sex behaviour, and how survivors of exploitation or coercion are heard.
For others, Sheen's candidness about addiction and its consequences is the central story, regardless of the precise sexual acts involved. The interplay of those perspectives has driven much of the coverage since the interview aired.
Sheen's clarification does not erase the original disclosures; rather, it reframes them within a messy personal history he is now telling on his own terms. Whether that reframing satisfies critics or fuels further debate, it underscores how quickly shorthand phrases in celebrity culture can eclipse nuance — and why primary sources, such as the Bensinger interview and Sheen's own memoir and documentary, remain essential for anyone seeking to understand the actor's account.
