Well, that didn't take long. Earlier this week, we learned that Anger Management stars Charlie Sheen and Selma Blair weren't getting along so well. Blair reportedly had some things to say about Sheen's work ethic and Sheen reportedly had some things to say about Blair's work status. From the latest report, which admittedly, is vague on details, it sounds like Sheen won this battle as Blair is leaving the series.
EW reported the news, citing a brief statement from Anger Management studio Lionsgate, which stated, "We are confirming that Selma Blair will not be returning to Anger Management and we wish her the very best." Of course, from this angle, it looks like Sheen got his way and she got fired, but we really don't know the details on this, and it's entirely possible, Blair left on her own accord. In the end, Sheen's the one with the track record for set issues, which causes me to want to give Blair the benefit of the doubt either way.
So the story goes, Blair was upset with Sheen being late to the set and having a "shoddy work ethic." This, according to TMZ's report, which added that Blair said Sheen was a menace to work with. Whether these comments erupted as the result of some specific incident or it was an ongoing thing, we can only speculate. But the comments prompted Sheen to demand she be fired. Or he fired her himself. That too was unclear in the original report. And now comes confirmation that she's leaving the show, which leaves the FX comedy without one of its leads. Blair played Dr. Kate Wales on the comedy, which has been on the air almost a year and is 34 episodes into its 100-episode order. Her character was a fellow therapist and colleague to Sheen's Charlie Goodson, and they were also friends with benefits.
Anger Management premiered June 2012 and is currently in its second season. The multi-camera comedy's numbers started off ok but have slipped noticeably in its second season, which prompted a temporary move to Fox this month to give the show a bit more exposure, and that's helped. Whether or not this latest development hurts or helps the series remains to be seen. We'll have to wait and see whether there are any more updates on this situation, particularly from Blair, whose latest tweet is from yesterday and sounds pretty positive:
Here's the preview for this Thursday's episode, titled "Charlie and the Airport Sext."
Anger Management airs Thursdays at 9:30 p.m. Et on FX.
