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It’s one of those Hollywood rumors that’s refused to die: that Charlie Sheen somehow “shot” his then-fiancée Kelly Preston back in the early ‘90s.
But on The Adam Carolla Show, Sheen finally walked listeners through exactly what happened that day in Malibu, and it’s a far cry from what tabloids ran with for decades.
“I used to carry a little revolver in my back pocket,” Sheen said.
The weapon had sat in his jeans long enough to leave a permanent outline, and when he got home that day, he tossed the pants with the gun still inside on the bathroom scale.
Kelly Preston later went to use the bathroom, saw the pants on the scale, and picked them up. That’s when the gun fell.
“It hits the linoleum, hits the tile floor, and sends a round through the toilet — right next to her leg,” Sheen recalled. Preston wasn’t shot. She apparently was struck by porcelain shrapnel from the shattered toilet, suffering minor injuries to her calf and wrist.
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“She got four stitches in her calf and a couple in her wrist,” Sheen said. “It was ultimately my fault for not being responsible with the weapon and leaving it in my pocket.”
Sheen described hearing the shot from downstairs, rushing up to find Preston in shock but conscious and coherent. He called 911.
“Nothing about it felt immediately life-threatening,” he said. “But we were very lucky. If that barrel was a couple millimeters different, who knows?”
Sheen added that Preston wasn’t even particularly angry afterward, but the press immediately spun it into something far more sinister.
The story took on new life recently after Sheen’s former Two and a Half Men co-star Jon Cryer mentioned it in a documentary.
Sheen seemed frustrated that Cryer never asked him directly. “He had eight years to get to the bottom of that,” Sheen said.
The incident, while presumably accidental, became a Hollywood cautionary tale about how gun accidents and gossip can spiral out of control.
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is a seasoned outdoorsman, lifelong hunter, and the kind of guy who’d rather track whitetails than scroll social media. As an editor for GunsAmerica, he’s got a sharp eye for spotting both solid gear and bad gun laws. Whether he’s deep in the woods or deep in editorial deadlines, Larry brings a no-nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is approach to firearms, hunting, and the great American tradition of self-reliance. If there’s a hot debate on gun rights or the latest in hunting tech, you can bet Larry’s got an opinion—and it’s probably backed up with both facts and field experience.
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Charlie Sheen!? Responsible?! 😂
A guy on the S&W forum owns his gun I believe.
Haha, yea, right. Revolvers are about as drop safe as any gun can be. My guess, he was high as a kite, took a shot at her and missed.
ps – jon cryer is a self-righteous d’bag
yeah i’m sure thats what actually happened……
why you gotta be a jerk, Paul
“ps – jon cryer is a self-righteous d’bag” And you’re calling Paul a Richard Cranium, so to speak? Isn’t that like the frying pan calling the kettle black?
justify your comment, karen