AIN’T SHEEN NOTHING YET
Real reason disgraced Hollywood star is coming to Australia
WOMEN’S groups want Hollywood bad boy Charlie Sheen banned from Australia next week ahead of his speaking tour. But the real reason he’s coming is to shoot a $500,000 promo for a Gold Coast car repair giant’s controversial ad series with Glitter Strip models like Tyana Hansen (right). Unapologetic Ultra Tune owner Sean Buckley said: “Hollywood will forgive him. Meantime, we’ve reached out.”
THE Gold Coast owner of a national franchise known for controversial TV ads is behind Charlie Sheen’s looming Australian tour, signing the fallen star for his next commercial.
Sean Buckley, owner of car repair and roadside assist giant Ultra Tune, has confirmed Sheen will follow Jean Claude Van Damme and Mike Tyson to be in his next nationwide TV clip.
Industry sources say the ad fee for drama-prone Sheen – who once pocketed $2.5 million an episode for the Two and a Half Men sitcom – would be $500,000.
The Ultra Tune commercials feature buxom Gold Coast lads magazine models dubbed Rubber Girls and typically spark the most advertising standards complaints annually. At the time of the ad with Tyson – jailed for rape in the 1990s despite maintaining his innocence – Mr Buckley defended it, saying Tyson had redeemed himself and if he was good enough for The Hangover, he was good enough for an Ultra Tune ad.
Sheen’s looming arrival to shoot next week and do an associated speaking tour in Sydney and Melbourne is already prompting protest. Collective Shout, an activist group against objectification of women, wants Immigration Minister David Coleman to refuse Sheen’s visa.
Collective Shout’s Caitlin Roper said Sheen had an “extensive history” of alleged violence against women and letting him profit from a speaking tour “sends the wrong message”.
But an unapologetic Mr Buckley said the actor was on the path to redemption after his public meltdown and talk show revelations he had HIV.
“We started with Van Damme who was good, then Tyson was huge and this will be bigger. We did some focus groups discussing Charlie and it was really good, people love him, he’s a lovable rogue.
“I loved Two and a Half Men. He went through a bad time, went a bit crazy but he’s admitted all that. He’s making a comeback, Hollywood will forgive him and in the meantime we’ve reached out to him,” Mr Buckley said.
“In Australia, we are a very forgiving culture, we give people a chance to fess up and give them another chance.”
Gold Coast models Parnia Porsche and Tyana Hansen say they’re thrilled to star alongside the blacklisted former Hollywood A-lister.
Miss Hansen, 23, was in the Tyson ad and said it’d be crazy to refuse Sheen’s visa.
“Everyone deserves a second chance. I’m excited, mostly to see what Charlie is like in person,” she said.
Miss Porsche, an original Rubber Girl, said it would be great to work with “someone who is such a legend – and I believe people can change”.
A Department of Home Affairs spokesman said it did not comment on individual visa cases.
Tickets to an Evening with Charlie Sheen, hosted by broadcaster Richard Wilkins in Melbourne on November 3 and Sydney on November 4, are selling from $195 to $1495.