‘WWHL’: Andrea Canning Reveals Charlie Sheen’s “Drug Dealer Was In The Room” For Their Viral 2011 Interview

By Samantha Nungesser @samjnungesser
Published May 3, 2024, 11:01 a.m. ET

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Dateline correspondent Andrea Canning remembers her 2011 sit-down with Charlie Sheen all too well — after all, it’s not every day that the person you’re interviewing refers to himself as a “high priest Vatican assassin warlock.”

Canning, who is a Bravo super fan, appeared alongside Summer House star Danielle Olivera on Thursday night’s (May 2) episode of Watch What Happens Live, where one virtual fan asked what was going through her mind during her viral interview with Sheen.

“Oh my gosh. I was thinking, ‘What the F is this?’ It was kind of a blur,” she said during the After Show. “I remember him smoking, drinking Orange Crush, his drug dealer was in the room. There was a lot going on.”

The journalist then recalled asking the troubled actor if he had “rid” himself of the “bad people” around him.

“I knew the answer to that because I knew his drug dealer was there,” she said. “He gave me this look, like, ‘Stop.’ Then I looked at the drug dealer, who’s dead now, by the way, and I just let it go. I just moved on.”

Olivera added, “I loved your cajones, though, in that moment.”

Canning’s interview with Sheen came amid the height of his drug and alcohol-fueled scandals. That same year, he went on a profane tirade against Two and a Half Men creator Chuck Lorre that ultimately got him fired from the hit sitcom.

At the top of his chat with Canning, Sheen called himself a “high priest Vatican assassin warlock,” prompting her to ask if he was on any drugs at that moment.

“I am on a drug. It’s called ‘Charlie Sheen!’” he said at the time. “It’s not available because if you try it once you will die. Your face will melt off and your children will weep over your exploded body. Too much?”

Sheen insisted at the time that he did not remember the last time he did drugs, though suggested it might have been “six weeks” earlier. After the interview was over, he agreed to take a drug test, which ultimately came back clean.

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If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, call the SAMHSA National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357.