“Two and a Half Men” star Angus T. Jones’ future on the CBS sitcom still isn’t clear, according to network CEO Les Moonves who is downplaying the 19-year-old’s criticism of the show last month.
“We took this boy who started with us when he was 8, and it seemed to be what happens with child stars over the course of time,” Moonves said in an interview with
The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday. “He’s now making $300,000 per week which is not a bad salary for a 19-year-old kid . . . I don’t know what our status is with him (but) after going through what we went through with Charlie Sheen, it’s been a piece of cake.”
Jones is a born-again Christian. In late November, during a video interview with a pastor from the Forerunner Christian Church, he called the show that launched his career “filth” and advised people to “please stop watching it.”
The criticism immediately went viral and former “Two and a Half Men” star Sheen appeared to support the young actor while attacking the show’s creator Chuck Lorre.
“Obviously, not having been there for some time, the Angus T. Jones that I knew and still love is not the same guy I saw on YouTube yesterday,” Sheen told IGN.com. “I dare anyone to spend 10 years in the laugh-track that is Chuck Lorre's hive of oppression and not suffer some form of an emotional tsunami.”
Sheen was fired from “Two and a Half Men” last March following his famous drug-assisted meltdown that began in 2010 and included a prolonged dispute between the actor and Lorre and other executives at CBS.
Sheen was replaced on the show in 2011 by Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore’s former husband, who up to then was best known for his role on Fox’s “That '70s Show” and Hollywood films like “Dude, Where's My Car?” Before Sheen’s departure, the sitcom was one of the most watched shows on television. Since thenm, it has seen series-low ratings, causing some TV analysts to question whether the show will be renewed in 2013.
“It just sounds like Angus is having an authentic experience with the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's a serious thing . . . I think he knows exactly what he's doing. Again, he meant to probably have it come out differently,” said Stephen Baldwin, one of Hollywood’s most outspoken Christian Evangelicals in a recent interview with “Good Morning America.”