Denise Richards Recalls the Christmas Ex Charlie Sheen Got Arrested and Called Their Daughters from Jail

• Denise Richards has opened up about shielding her daughters Sami, 21, and Lola, 19, from their dad Charlie Sheen’s behavior when they were growing up
• The actress recalled one Christmas when Sheen got arrested and called them from jail during an appearance on the Sibling Revelry podcast
• Richards said her daughters have learned more as they’ve gotten older and have “gotten upset” with her for keeping it from them

Denise Richards is looking back on her complicated past with her ex-husband Charlie Sheen. 

Speaking on the April 7 episode of Sibling Revelry with Kate Hudson and Oliver Hudson podcast, the 54-year-old actress — who shares daughters Sami Sheen, 21, and Lola Sheen. 19, with her famous ex — recalled one Christmas when the Two and a Half Men star, 59, ended up in jail.

“He was arrested on Christmas, and he called me from jail to say ‘Merry Christmas’ to the girls,” Richards shared. “And they were busy playing with their toys. They’re like, ‘We’ll talk to Dad later.’ I go, ‘I think Dad’s gonna be a little busy later.’ “

Richards added that she didn’t clue her kids in to the truth of the situation. 

“I didn’t say, your dad just got f—— arrested and he’s in jail so come say ‘Merry Christmas’ right now,” the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum noted. 

Sheen was arrested in 2009 on Christmas Day after his then-wife Brooke Mueller accused him of assault. He later pleaded guilty to the charges and spent 30 days in jail. 

Richards revealed that throughout her daughters’ adolescence, she attempted to keep Sheen’s struggles private. 

“If I was at a school performance and he was supposed to show up and I get a call, ‘Something happened sideways, hospital, whatever.’ I’m not going to tell the kids the truth,” she said. “I told them I lied and I said, ‘Dad had to work.’ Some of the things were so outrageously bad where I’m like, ‘I can’t say that.’ ”

The impact of that decision is still affecting the mother of three today. 

“I actually sheltered the kids almost to a point of where now as they’re getting older, they’re discovering things and they were at first getting upset with me, like, ‘Why didn’t you tell me this?’ ” she said.

Richards shared that her main goal was to “protect their relationship” with Sheen. 

“There was a time I didn’t know if he was gonna live, and I didn’t want the girls to ever get to know their dad, [from] what they would read,” she explained. “I wanted it to be their experience and their relationship. And I also didn’t want to put on them my feelings because that’s not fair to them and their relationship with him.” 

Throughout the highs and lows of her own personal relationship with her ex, Richards said she urged the family to spend time together. 

“I even told Charlie, ‘I don’t care if you’re pissed at me, let’s have dinner with the girls. Just f—— suck it up,’ ” she recalled. “Because they’re our daughters, they don’t deserve to have their family split. Now your other ex wife and your kid, you know what I mean? Like, let’s all keep it harmonious as much as possible. So that’s why still to this day, I still try to do it.” 

Richards and Sheen married in 2002. Richards filed for divorce in 2005 when she was six months pregnant with Lola. The divorce was finalized in 2006. 

As for the current status of her relationship with her ex, Richards recently shared some insight into their differences. 

“Truthfully, it wasn’t co-parenting. I parent my way. He parents his way, and there was no co-parenting,” she explained on Whine Down with Jana Kramer earlier this month. “I have kids with him, and I’m not really — I’m friendly with Charlie, but I wish we were friends and that we could talk all the time and be able to be there really for each other with our girls. But that’s just not the relationship we have. Maybe one day. But, I mean right now, there’s nothing. There’s no discord between he and I, which is great.”

“I was always an advocate of wanting everything to be great and be friends and blend the family because he had two boys with his wife after me,” she continued. “I just didn’t want the girls to feel like they had to choose sides.”

During the latest episode of Richards’ Bravo show — Denise Richards & Her Wild Things — Sheen made an appearance and had dinner with Richards and Lola, though Sami didn’t attend.

The 21-year-old shared in a confessional that she hadn’t seen her dad in five months, adding, “I would rather do literally anything else than go to lunch with my father.”