Charlie Sheen to Donate More than $1 Million to the USO
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ABC/RICHARD CARTWRIGHT(LOS ANGELES) — Charlie Sheen is feeling charitable these days. The actor has announced he is donating more than $1 million to support our troops via the United Service Organization (U.S.O.).
Sheen said in a statement obtained by TMZ, “It’s an honor for me to be able to give back to these men and women of the military who have done so much for all of us…They put their lives on the line for us every day, and I’m just happy that my work on Anger Management can bring a little bit of relief to the troops and their families.”
Sheen will donate 1 percent of the profits from the earnings of his new FX show, Anger Management, with a minimum of $1 million dollars on the low end, and an unlimited maximum on the high end.
It’s unclear whether the money is going directly to the organization, or to an entertainment facility for injured troops in Maryland.
On The Tonight Show with Jay Leno Monday night, Sheen said he was approached about making a donation to a traumatic brain injury center, which is devoted to helping soldiers transition from military to civilian life.
Instead of a donation, Sheen suggested he give the USO a profit “point” on his show.
“How about I give you something that grows over time,” Sheen said he told the group. “It should be worth a minimum of a million, and hopefully a lot more than that, because these guys are the real heroes.”
The amount the “point” is worth would go up exponentially if the FX show endures, so Sheen told the Tonight Show audience, “It’s up to you to make it a hit!”
No matter how it’s used in the end, the donation is being hailed as the single largest ever made to the USO, and Sheen said the facility would be named after him — an honor Leno had a little fun with, saying, “See I’m not sure if I was injured, if I want to go to the Charlie Sheen Traumatic Brain [Injury Center]. I might come out of there worse than I came in.”
Sheen also joked during his Tonight Show appearance about the rumors he was being sought as a judge on American Idol. The actor said he felt he could “give these kids some guidance without leading them to a suicide…”
On the topic of his recent decision to quit Twitter, Sheen acknowledged his Guinness record of being the fastest person ever to reach one million followers, yet he said he should have quit while he was ahead.
“It was never my idea in the first place,” he said of joining the microblogging service.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio