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Los Angeles - Charlie Sheen filed a lawsuit on Thursday seeking $100m from Warner Brothers and the producers of Two and a Half Men for sacking him from the hit TV show.
Lawyers for the troubled star claim Sheen's contract was breached by his dismissal this week in the wake of a string of media outbursts by the actor attacking the show's producer Chuck Lorre.
Sheen is also seeking compensation for the rest of the cast and crew of the top-rated TV series, the future of which is in doubt after the sacking of its main star.
"Chuck Lorre, one of the richest men in television who is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, believes himself to be so wealthy and powerful that he can unilaterally decide to take money away from the (show's) dedicated cast and crew," said the lawsuit, published by the TMZ celebrity news website.
Cancelled
It alleged that Lorre's decision to suspend the show and sack Sheen was due to "serve his own ego and self-interest, and make the star of the Series the scapegoat for Lorre's own conduct".
"Charlie Sheen is not only seeking payment of his own compensation for the series. He is also pursuing claims for the benefit of the entire cast and crew to get paid for the balance of the season's 24 episodes," it added.
The legal action came after Warner Brothers sacked Sheen on Monday, citing the 45-year-old's "dangerously self-destructive conduct".
Two and a Half Men - in which Sheen plays a hedonistic bachelor - had already been cancelled for the rest of the season following Sheen's repeated verbal attacks on Lorre two weeks ago.
Blame
Sheen drew accusations of anti-Semitism after referring to Lorre by the Hebrew translation of his name, but persisted with a series of rambling TV interviews last week, prompting his spokesperson to quit.
The star also started his own Twitter feed which has become an Internet sensation, and launched an online show, dubbed Sheen's Korner, which has also drawn huge numbers of followers.
In Thursday's 30-page lawsuit, Sheen's lawyer Marty Singer alleged that the decision to suspend Two and a Half Men production was made before the actor first publicly criticised Lorre.
It claimed that Lorre wanted out because of his commitments on other high-profile shows and because he hated Sheen - and alleged a conspiracy between Lorre and Warner Brothers to blame the troubled actor.
Sheen's health
"Lorre is the proverbial '800-pound gorilla' as far as Warner Bros and (TV network) CBS are concerned," said the suit, filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court.
"Unfortunately in this instance the capitulation to Lorre's demands - fuelled by Lorre's inflated ego, laziness and ill-will toward Mr Sheen and his perceived lifestyle - is in direct derogation of Mr Sheen's rights.
"Warner Bros... used its powerful public relations machine to create a myth to justify their conduct by wrongly blaming Mr Sheen," it added.
Lorre's lawyer Howard Weitzman dismissed the allegations as a "fantasy".
"The allegations in the complaint against Mr Lorre are as recklessly false and unwarranted as Mr Sheen's rantings in the media," he told TMZ. "These accusations are simply imaginary.
"This lawsuit is about a fantasy 'lottery' pay-day for Charlie Sheen," he said, adding: "Chuck Lorre's concern has been and continues to be about Mr Sheen's health."
Lawyers for the troubled star claim Sheen's contract was breached by his dismissal this week in the wake of a string of media outbursts by the actor attacking the show's producer Chuck Lorre.
Sheen is also seeking compensation for the rest of the cast and crew of the top-rated TV series, the future of which is in doubt after the sacking of its main star.
"Chuck Lorre, one of the richest men in television who is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, believes himself to be so wealthy and powerful that he can unilaterally decide to take money away from the (show's) dedicated cast and crew," said the lawsuit, published by the TMZ celebrity news website.
Cancelled
It alleged that Lorre's decision to suspend the show and sack Sheen was due to "serve his own ego and self-interest, and make the star of the Series the scapegoat for Lorre's own conduct".
"Charlie Sheen is not only seeking payment of his own compensation for the series. He is also pursuing claims for the benefit of the entire cast and crew to get paid for the balance of the season's 24 episodes," it added.
The legal action came after Warner Brothers sacked Sheen on Monday, citing the 45-year-old's "dangerously self-destructive conduct".
Two and a Half Men - in which Sheen plays a hedonistic bachelor - had already been cancelled for the rest of the season following Sheen's repeated verbal attacks on Lorre two weeks ago.
Blame
Sheen drew accusations of anti-Semitism after referring to Lorre by the Hebrew translation of his name, but persisted with a series of rambling TV interviews last week, prompting his spokesperson to quit.
The star also started his own Twitter feed which has become an Internet sensation, and launched an online show, dubbed Sheen's Korner, which has also drawn huge numbers of followers.
In Thursday's 30-page lawsuit, Sheen's lawyer Marty Singer alleged that the decision to suspend Two and a Half Men production was made before the actor first publicly criticised Lorre.
It claimed that Lorre wanted out because of his commitments on other high-profile shows and because he hated Sheen - and alleged a conspiracy between Lorre and Warner Brothers to blame the troubled actor.
Sheen's health
"Lorre is the proverbial '800-pound gorilla' as far as Warner Bros and (TV network) CBS are concerned," said the suit, filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court.
"Unfortunately in this instance the capitulation to Lorre's demands - fuelled by Lorre's inflated ego, laziness and ill-will toward Mr Sheen and his perceived lifestyle - is in direct derogation of Mr Sheen's rights.
"Warner Bros... used its powerful public relations machine to create a myth to justify their conduct by wrongly blaming Mr Sheen," it added.
Lorre's lawyer Howard Weitzman dismissed the allegations as a "fantasy".
"The allegations in the complaint against Mr Lorre are as recklessly false and unwarranted as Mr Sheen's rantings in the media," he told TMZ. "These accusations are simply imaginary.
"This lawsuit is about a fantasy 'lottery' pay-day for Charlie Sheen," he said, adding: "Chuck Lorre's concern has been and continues to be about Mr Sheen's health."
