Denise Richards Recalls Filing for Divorce From Charlie Sheen While Six Months Pregnant

Denise Richards is shedding light on what it was like for her to file for divorce from Charlie Sheen when she was six months pregnant with their daughter. 

During an appearance on the Just B with Bethenny Frankel podcast, Richards, 52, explained that her four-year marriage to Sheen, 58, collapsed in on itself while she was expecting their second child together. 

“After Sami was born, I got pregnant six months later with Lola and I filed for divorce when I was six months pregnant,” Richards told Frankel, 53. 

The former married couple welcomed Sami, 19, in 2004 and Lola, 18, in 2005. Richards and Sheen finalized their divorce in 2006. 

Richards is also mom to Eloise, 12, with husband Aaron Phypers, while Sheen is dad to 38-year-old Cassandra with Paula Profit and 14-year-old twin sons, Bob and Max, with ex Brooke Mueller.

“Now, how bad is your family life inside?” Frankel asked in response. “Because we’re reading in the tabloids how insane it is — what’s going on in your house?” 

“Well, insane enough for me to file for divorce [while] six months pregnant,” Richards responded, emphasizing the urgency of getting out of the situation. “It wasn’t like I moved out and we had a little separation.”

In a previous interview, Richards went into further detail on what it was like living with the Two and a Half Men star during his relapse with drugs and alcohol after previously being sober for the start of their relationship. 

“The behind-the-scenes stuff was way worse than what was out there,” Richards previously stated on the Divorced Not Dead podcast. “It’s very funny because a lot of people think on the outside, things are great.”

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star said that it was “really bad” during that time and her breaking point in the relationship came after asking herself the question: “Would I want my daughters to be married to this man?”

“No offense to him, but I think he would take that and understand what I’m saying,” Richards continued. “It was very toxic.”

In the same episode of the Just B with Bethenny Frankel podcast, Richards also said she was the one who convinced Sheen to take on the role of Charlie Harper on Two and a Half Men, which earned him several Golden Globe and Emmy nominations. 

“He got Two and a Half Men while I was pregnant [with Sami],” she recalled. “He was nervous about starting a new TV show after Spin City got canceled. By the way, I read the script for [Two and a Half Men] and said, ‘You have to do this show.'”

“He was going to do a different show. And I read the script for [Two and a Half Men]and I go, ‘You’re crazy for not doing this,'” she continued. 

It was that same success, however, that she believes may have led to Sheen’s substance abuse relapse. 

“I think because the success of Two and a Half Men and the money, I think that led to him getting back into not being sober,” she told Frankel. 

And despite it being her who pushed Sheen into the CBS hit show and their very public divorce where tabloids labeled her a “gold digger,” she claims she did not go after his Two and a Half Men money, even if she now thinks she probably should have. 

“I was with him during all of that,” she shared. “But by the way I could have, rightfully so, and I think I would have deserved every f**king penny with what I had to deal with. The money was the last thing we dealt with. It was more about the custody [of our daughters] and all of that stuff.”

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