Charlie Sheen Once Ditched Rehab for Bikini Contest With Nicolas Cage — Leaving $1M IOU to Nurse
Charlie Sheen‘s 1990 intervention — featuring a star-studded group of concerned loved ones, including The Rookie costar Clint Eastwood and father Martin Sheen — landed him in rehab for the first time. But the child star wasn’t there for long. Sheen bribed a nurse to let him leave for the night so he could judge a bikini contest with his pal.
Charlie Sheen’s rehab nurse nearly earned $1 million from the maligned star
After hearing concerns from his parents and siblings about his excessive drinking and drug use, Charlie Sheen received a phone call from Clint Eastwood, solidifying his decision to enter rehab. The Wall Street actor told him, “You gotta get the train back on the tracks, kid. You’re worth saving.” So Sheen agreed — temporarily.
The then-25-year-old desperately wanted to judge the Hawaiian Tropic bikini competition in Palm Springs, California, with his buddy, Nicolas Cage. Sheen promised the Saint John’s hospital night nurse that he’d return by 8 am or pay her $1 million. With that kind of collateral, it seemed like a win-win for the caretaker, who agreed to the terms. Sheen called the bikini contest “fantabulous,” “sexy,” and “exciting.”
In his memoir The Book of Sheen, he wrote, “The trip was a bona fide Class 3 blowout.” The Two and a Half Men star explained that he didn’t remember much except securing a bag of coke to share with a “lovely gal.” He returned to St. John’s hospital shortly before his curfew, saying that the nurse was “happy for me, but disappointed for herself.”
Charlie Sheen credited partying with Cage to his first rehab visit
The Platoon star took quite a risk heading to Palm Springs. He’d previously consumed so much alcohol and drugs while partying with Cage that it motivated that first intervention, reports Page Six.
In his memoir, Sheen said running into Cage prior to rehab “opened the door to a different warehouse of mischief.” The pair joined a group of friends they called “J-5,” as they “stumbled through the night.” Sheen said the excessive partying caused him to neglect work. He couldn’t hide his “sloppiness” from Eastwood as they continued filming The Rookie.
Thankfully, no amount of influence from friends like Cage prevented Sheen from eventually getting the help he needed. The father of two has been sober since December 2017.
