Charlie Sheen is going to battle with the National Enquirer and suing the notorious tabloid. Sheen claims that the magazine has defamed him in asserting that he sexually assaulted the ill-fated 80s star Corey Haim. The National Enquirer ran a piece in its edition published on the 8th November which included a quotation from former actor Dominick Brascia with the bold claim that Sheen had sexually assaulted the then 13 year old actor Haim. At the time Sheen would have been 19 years old.
Sheen has vehemently denied all allegations that he had sex with the younger actor or that he assaulted Haim. He labeled the National Enquirer story “disgusting” and “ridiculous” in the legal papers which were filed in Los Angeles on Friday. He went on to describe the charges as “egregious” and “hurtful”. Sheen maintains that the malicious defamation is motivated by a greedy desire to make money from salacious claims and is part of personal vendetta on the part of the tabloid’s editor. Sheen has suggested that the Enquirer is driven by a desire for revenge as it missed the scoop on Sheen’s HIV status.
Legally Sheen must convince that the Enquirer not only published the story in error but that it did so either in full knowledge that the story was false. Sheen points to the unreliability of Brascia as its source. Former actor Brascia alleged the sexual assault happened during the production of 1986 film Lucas. Brascia said that the two smoked marijuana and had anal sex. Brascia claims that his friend Corey Haim confided this to him before he died. The Enquirer claimed that this assault and Charlie’s influence led to the young star becoming involved in drugs. Corey died in 2010 at the age of 38 after years battling with drug abuse.
Rumors have circulated in Hollywood for years that Haim had been sexually assaulted by a a huge A List Hollywood actor. Stories have been circulated that an older male actor in his 40s was the culprit. Significantly, Brascia has previously been the subject of the contention that he himself was Haim’s rapist. In 2016 Greg Harrison claimed that Brascia had assaulted Haim. In a statement denying the charges Brascia emphasized that he was ruled out as the attacker was an older man in his 40s at the time. Brascia is nearly 10 years older than Sheen.
On an explosive interview with Dr Oz Haim’s mother has declared that she does not believe that Sheen assaulted her son. She puts Brascia in the frame and names him as the likely culprit. Sheen’s suit argues that The National Enquirer published the story with a “high degree of awareness of the probability of falsity.”
Sheen’s law suit names The National Enquirer, Dominick Brascia and also the chief content officer of the parent company American Media. The plot truly thickens in light of the fact that Dylan Howard, the chief content officer has been the subject of sexually misconduct allegations. In a statement for the parent company the spokesperson contended that the company was looking forward to litigating the matter.
Sheen is seeking an unspecified amount of damages.
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