The court battle between Charlie Sheen and Warner Bros. TV will now be settled behind the closed door after the judge ruled that they are bound by an arbitration clause in their contract.
- Jun 16, 2011
AceShowbiz - Charlie Sheen has lost early round of his court battle against Warner Bros. TV regarding his firing from "Two and a Half Men". The former lead actor of the sitcom, through his lawyer, demanded public trial for the case, but Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Allan Goodman agreed with the defendants who argued that it had to be settled in arbitration.
In the ruling, the judge stated "arbitrability of the matters indicated, together with any defenses, is properly determined by the arbitrator." Now that the arbitration clause is valid, the process which had actually started but then was put on hold until the judge's ruling will now resume. "We're very gratified by the court's ruling enforcing the parties' arbitration agreement," Warner Bros. said in a statement to CNN.
Sheen's legal team, however, have a strong belief that they still have a chance to square off against Warner Bros. and Lorre in court, and bring the case to public trial instead of settling it behind the closed door like WB requested. "It will be the arbitrator, not the judge, who will make the decision whether the case will go to arbitration or to court," said attorney Martin Singer.
Charlie Sheen was sacked from "Two and a Half Men" last March. Following the firing, he is demanding he get paid for the eight canceled episodes of the TV show. Also, he's also suing the studio and executive producer of "Two and a Half Men", Chuck Lorre, on behalf of the cast and crew, for a grand total of $100 million for punitive damages.
He has been recently replaced by younger actor Ashton Kutcher with production of the ninth season to start within a few months for broadcast on CBS later this year. However, the whole fiasco has prompted the studio to skip submitting the series for Best Comedy Series nomination at upcoming Primetime Emmy Awards.
