1. By Brantley Bardin
ReAlity
tc
22 june 23, 2008
Photograph by Andrew Eccles
GUTTER CREDIT TK
If you like dogs, come on in!”
says Denise
Richards, opening the door to her comfortable house in the
Los Angeles suburbs, where four excitable dogs fill the air
with kisses and yips of joy. Elsewhere in the airy, shabbychic house are more dogs, cats and the newest member of
the family, a six-week-old potbellied piglet named Stella,
who was born with deformed front legs. (“She can’t walk
right, so I wanted to give her a good home,” Richards says.)
The actress’ father, Irv, who moved in after his wife
(Richards’ mother) died from cancer last November, corrals the menagerie on this bright day. Soon Dad and the
canines head to the kitchen to join Richards’ two gorgeous daughters, Sam, 4, and Lola, 3, from her famously
failed marriage to ex-husband Charlie Sheen, for lunch.
“I love having a loud, chaotic house with kids and dogs
and dads!” the actress, clad in a long white sundress and
flip-flops, says with a laugh. It’s the week after the 37-yearold former Bond girl’s reality show, Denise Richards: It’s
Complicated, has premiered as one of the top series debuts
in the E! channel’s history. Upstairs in her office, an
appealing room with green floral wallpaper and a crystal
chandelier, Richards munches on a turkey salad, her legs
crossed yoga-style. It’s time for a little pow-wow about her
series and so much more. “That’s why I named the show It’s
Complicated,” laughs Richards. “ ’Cause every journalist I
talk to says, ‘I don’t know where to begin with you!’ ”
Denise
Richards
lets loose
on her
tabloid
troubles,
her new E!
show and
the possibility of
remarriage

2. A quick tutorial: Despite his reputation as a hooker-loving Hollywood bad
boy, Richards married Sheen in 2002, had
their first child, Sam, in 2004, and Lola in
2005. The following year, she filed an
eye-popping restraining order that alleged,
among other hair-raising vices, Sheen’s predilections for gambling, porn and violence.
Public sympathy was firmly on Richards’
side until she began dating rocker Richie
Sambora, who was still married to Denise’s
pal Heather Locklear. Overnight, Richards
was branded—as the intro for It’s Complicated reiterates—a “Gold digger. Husband
stealer. Bitch.” The tabloids seemed to
gleefully fuel this perception of Richards
on a weekly basis, with a steady stream of
put-downs and brutal name-calling, while
the actress remained mostly mum.
Until now. “The gloves are off,” says
Richards. “When I keep my mouth shut,
[Charlie] continues to fuel [the feud] anyway, so I’m not gonna sit back anymore.”
Not that she has much choice in the matter: On the press tour the week before the
series’ debut, she’d seemingly been blindsided live on both Larry King Live and the
Today show with a new, humiliating, suspiciously delivered e-mail—which Richards
swears is doctored—alleging that she’d
requested her ex’s sperm for another child.
As Richards sits calmly, surrounded by
silver-framed pictures of her daughters, her
thick mass of blond hair pulled back chicly
with a headband, this seems as good as any
place to, well, begin.
My, my—what a crazy press tour you’ve
just had! I’ve been through the wringer with
the press—perhaps you’ve heard about it?
[Laughs] Like, I’m on Larry King and I hear
through Larry’s earpiece that Charlie’s publicist called, telling the producers to get
Larry to ask me about that e-mail. I’m like,
“Damn, are [Charlie and his people] in the
building?!” It’s like, I’m here to promote a
reality show, but it’s turned into the Deniseand-Charlie media circus all over again.
And then he sends a text message saying,
“Quit talking about me on your interviews.” OK, then, quit releasing statements
on live TV, Charlie. In all those TV interviews I’d sat down and said, “I am not here
to bash Charlie,” but at a certain point I
have to defend myself. [Sighs] But I can’t
change Charlie. He is who he is, says what
he says. I hope [that by] getting married
now, he can move on.
Yes, he wed Brooke Mueller the very week
your show debuted…. And then says I
planned my frickin’ show around his
24 june 23, 2008
As Bond girl
Christmas Jones
The press made it
seem that she and I
were having dinner on
Friday and I was screwing her husband on
Sunday, and that’s not
the case. Heather knows
that I did not ‘steal’
Richie. She knows it”
Animal
house:
Richards in
her yard
wedding! Come on. His ego is so big that
he thinks E! would honestly be, like [conspiratorially], “Yeah, let’s premiere the
show right around his wedding”? Please.
Did your kids go to the nuptials? They
did—they were told they were going to be
flower girls. But then Charlie changed his
mind. Actually, Charlie and Brooke got
the girls little necklaces for the wedding,
but when they came home I was told by
the nanny they had to give them back.
I said, “But aren’t they a gift?” The nanny
said, “They are, but they can only wear
them at his house.” I said, “Have him call
his lawyer then, ’cause I’m not gonna tell
a 3- and a 4-year-old, ‘You have to give
back the necklaces Daddy gave you and
only wear them at Daddy’s house.’ ”
[Pause] Now, I know this sounds f---ing
crazy—and it is. But this is what I deal
with. I never thought I’d be in this position, but truthfully I’m used to it now.
Do you think he’s a good dad? I’m not
with him when he’s with the kids, so I don’t
know—a nanny comes and gets the girls.
But, of course, they love their dad. I imagine as they get older this is gonna be very
difficult for them, though. I mean, parents
that don’t communicate? I want my girls to
see that, even though Mommy and Daddy
are divorced, I can still talk to their dad.
And I wanted to go to a mediator, but [he
declined]. I don’t know why he can’t push
this s--- aside and focus on the kids.
Which reminds me: One of the things on
your show that upsets some folks is that
you curse like a sailor. But I absolutely do
not swear in front of my kids ever, ever,
ever. I know it’s not classy, but…well, I
don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t do drugs.
[Laughs] I just swear.
OK. And some people think you’re a husband stealer. What’s your reaction? Anyone that’s been through a divorce knows it
doesn’t happen overnight. The timeline
was that Charlie and I ended, then my
friendship with Heather—which wasn’t a
long friendship—ended, then she filed for
Richards and Sheen in happier times (above,
left), and with Sambora post-split. The actress
and daughters Sam and Lola (left), at the
A Time for Heroes benefit carnival on June 8
divorce, and then Richie and I got together
after that. I was vulnerable, sad and confused. And, especially when you’re a
celebrity and going through something
publicly, you trust very few people. I trusted
Richie. And my kids and parents adored
him, and he truly brought a lot of love and
happiness to my house. So it happened
and I do not regret it. But I knew that in the
public’s eye—because Heather is America’s
TV sweetheart—it wasn’t gonna go over
well. I thought at the time that not saying
anything [publicly] would be for the best. In
hindsight, I wish I hadn’t handled it that
way. Because the press made it seem that she
and I were having dinner on Friday and I
was screwing her husband on Sunday, and
that’s not the case. Heather knows that I
did not “steal” Richie. She knows it.
You’ve also been branded a gold digger, and
just recently there was an item that said you
were just about to collect a $40 million
divorce settlement from Charlie. There is
no settlement. I do not have $40 million—
that was the first time I was even hearing of
getting $40 million. [Mischievously] But I
did call my lawyer and say, “Hey, we now
have it in writing that I’m getting $40 million!” [Laughs] But, joking aside, I’m
definitely not a gold digger. I’ve worked
my ass off my whole life. When Charlie
and I got together, I made more money
than he did. I did movies [“Wild Things,”
“The World Is Not Enough”] and then took
time off when I had kids. I love being a
mom, and I’m very hands-on.
But Charlie opposed you in court for putting the girls on your show. Charlie is so
adamant about saying my girls are being
exploited, but…well, he had Sam on his
show when she was 8 months old, so
his reasons aren’t consistent for how that
all went down. And he has a little boy on
his show, so is he telling Angus [T. Jones’]
mother, “You’re exploiting your kid, being
on our show”?
Good point. OK, so after all this, would
you ever marry again? Oh, yeah! I’m not
bitter from this. I know I’ll find the right
one. Dammit. But when I do I will never
get divorced. I’m done. [Laughs] Everyone
asks, “How could you have married Charlie [knowing about] his past?” But, truly,
that is not the man I met—and we [ended
up] being so different, there was no way
in hell it would have worked. But I love
men. I’ve never ended badly with someone except my ex-husband.
Describe your dream guy. Someone who
loves kids and animals, someone who loves
to have fun, someone who’s honest and
who’s got a lot of integrity.
Explain the animal thing—you’re like the
Angelina Jolie of animal adoption! [Laughs]
Listen, I’m from Illinois. I grew up around
farms and ever since I was little, I just had
a thing for animals. I brought home strays
when I was in school and volunteered at an
animal shelter. My mom was the same
way—she wanted to open a kennel.
I’m so sorry about her death. Thank you….
[Pause] It’s very hard. Nothing prepares you
for that. My mom was only 54. And she
went fast, but it was a very painful death.
I’m just starting to feel like myself again.
So what do you ultimately hope to achieve
with It’s Complicated? Whether people
like it or not, I’m being very open on the
show. So I hope people will appreciate
my honesty. Even if they have a perception of me that’s negative, I hope they’ll
appreciate how blunt and candid I am.
And I also want them to see that I have
two healthy, gorgeous girls and an amazing dad—that despite all the problems,
I have a blessed life.
And a very interesting one. [Grins] You
have no idea what I’ve been through. The
public doesn’t know half of it!
DENISE RICHARDS: It’s COMPLICATED,
Sundays, 10/9c, E!
(also online via video.tvguide.com)
TV GUIDE 25