KEY POINTS:
LOS ANGELES - Former Bond girl Denise Richards, currently starring in a reality television series about her chaotic life, has one key thing to say to ex-husband Charlie Sheen now that he has remarried: stop picking on me.
Richards, 37, divorced Sheen in 2006, and her break-up from
the star of TV's Two and Half Men, became instant fodder for celebrity magazines. She hopes to "set the record straight" about her life on her reality program, Denise Richards: It's Complicated, on cable TV network E!.
"He loves to trash me in the press and discredit me and has tried to sabotage my (new) show. I can't change that, so I just keep living my life," said Richards. "I hope that now that he's married, he can move forward and be civil."
During their divorce, the press seized on Richards' claims of Sheen's domestic abuse, penchants for prostitutes and porn, made public in court documents. The actor's career weathered the storm and about two weeks ago, he married a third time.
Richards' career and reputation, however, have been overshadowed by what she sees as negative press, which included stories about her former romance with Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora, ex-husband of her one-time friend Heather Locklear.
So in late May Richards, whose career blossomed in the 1990s on TV and in movies such as Starship Troopers and Bond flick The World is Not Enough, joined a growing list of celebrities documenting their lives on reality TV.
"I've gotten sick of not saying anything for three years. I wanted it (the show) to be real. Hopefully people can better understand my honesty and that I'm relatable as a single mom," said Richards.
CELEBRITY MOM
But Richards is no ordinary mom. She is a celebrity dealing with the aftermath of a Hollywood divorce, romances splattered all over gossip pages and the ever-present paparazzi.
In one episode, she curses out a tabloid journalist after visiting the reporter in her office, and Sheen hurled more daggers at her this month in reports quoting him as saying his marriage to Richards was a "con". She was not surprised.
"It's expected with Charlie. I've been dealing with him for a long time and he is who he is." said Richards, who in one episode tries to have her name changed on her drivers' license.
In the past week, celebrity website TMZ also reported the two had clashed over their children's medical care, with Sheen reportedly objecting to Richards having the girls immunized.
Sheen's spokesman said the actor had no comment, and noted that, among other things, "this is an ugly divorce."
The long-haired, well-toned Richards, who once appeared in Playboy magazine, candidly describes her program as a "guilty pleasure" for those who watch it.
It chronicles a cozy and hectic life with her two daughters - Sam, 4, and Lola, 3, - her recently widowed dad and a menagerie of pets. Richards says her mother, who recently died of cancer, had urged her to do the reality show.
"I've had fun working with my family and friends at home and the feedback has been fantastic," said Richards, who often swears colorfully on the show outside her daughters' earshot.
In one episode, she agrees to a dare by her father to relinquish a pair of designer shoes for every time she curses.
She also ponders an invitation to pose again for Playboy, but rules it out when her best friend reminds her she is trying to change her image.
When asked how she'd advise her daughters if they were asked as adults to pose for the men's magazine, she was taken aback. "I don't even want to think about them being that old! I am enjoying them being 3 and 4 years-old. As for myself, I'd never say never," she said.
- REUTERS
