The Poisoned Fruits Of Denise Richards's Latest Divorce Court Battle: A Reality Show Exposing Her Kids
Denise Richards is making her kids reality television stars and her fuming ex-husband Charlie Sheen is powerless to stop her. Daughters, Lola, 2, and Sam, 3, are headed for Hollywood, as Denise is making the rounds on the nation's talk show circuit this week promoting a new reality show about her home life called Denise Richards: It's Complicated. But what this star is also highlighting is her ruthless decision to showcase her two toddlers on television in an attempt to jumpstart her career.
Denise won a court order allowing her to proceed with filming her life with the children (she has physical custody) as a reality television show for E!, which premieres next week. Charlie had objected, claiming the public exposure is a bad idea that will harm the kids, but a court disagreed. The reason Sheen lost his court battle was because he previously signed a waiver allowing the girls to be filmed. When the show itself became a reality, he apparently changed his mind. But the judge ruled a deal was a deal, and that Charlie had legitimately signed off on the project.
Why would Charlie have signed if he were against his daughters appearing on the show? In my opinion, he probably made a tactical error as his custody battle was ensuing. He may have initially given his consent with the hope of gaining leverage in a "give a little, get a little" move, thinking the reality show would never come to fruition. But Denise eventually successfully inked a deal to air her daily life (as if we are all that interested), and Charlie may have then realized he made an awful mistake.
It seems the so-called bad-boy actor (Denise has accused him of gambling and substance abuse problems, as well as a pornography habit) has really cleaned up his act and made a dead-on correct parenting judgment by attempting to shield the toddlers from a potentially harmful and frightening experience of being followed by television cameras 24/7. (I had a taste of the so-called reality "good life" when I appeared as a contestant on The Apprentice with Donald Trump in 2006. I know what these little girls have in store for them. The lack of privacy and the incessant presence of a camera crew are unnerving and stressful, and I imagine would be especially traumatizing for young children). Moreover, broadcasting the children's images on a national TV show also makes them easier targets for potential kidnappings and paparazzi followings.
Denise Richards appears desperate and is missing the point if she thinks a reality show featuring her children will help her without hurting her kids. With all the previous alleged nasty disclosures painting Charlie as the less effective parent, I am beginning to wonder here if Denise is the one who lacks sound judgment. Is she trying to gain sympathy over her ongoing feud with Sheen and the couple's embarrassing public divorce revelations by turning her agenda into entertainment? It would be a shame if the real reason for making her children TV stars were that complicated.
Stacy Schneider, Esq. is the author of He Had It Coming: How to Outsmart Your Husband and Win Your Divorce.
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Denise and her children are what many of us in the 21st Century are already experiencing, an existence consisting of being observed the entire time on video cameras.
Privacy is a thing of the past for us. I pity those kids, and have to shake my head at her mercenary use of them for her gain.
She is unfit to parent them as of this decision on.
These two babies don't stand a chance with these two as parents. Neither one has a sense of values and bringing their kids into their drama isn't going to make for healthy adults.
I saw the show and her kids are a very little part of it. She can't avoid them because she is their Mom. sheesh!
Whether Charlie Sheen signed off on it earlier or not the judge has a responsibility to the minor children and by allowing Denise Richards publicity stunt to continue the judge is turning his or her back and good judgement against these kids.
Who cares !!!!
I don't know who is worse- Denise Richards or Charlie Sheen- All I can comment is : "Those poor kids"
I think there's another issue here that makes this a tragic decision. If one parent objects to putting the children on camera, the other parent should respect that.
It sounds like part of her doing this is to punish Charlie Sheen.
She could have done this show without the children on screen. However, I think the reason she wanted them to do it is to use the show to promote the image of herself of her as a loving mother.
In that sense she is exploiting the children in 3 ways: 1. In an general sense, she's exploiting them by putting them on camera. 2. She is exploiting them by using them to hurt their father. 3. She is exploiting them by using theme to try to correct her awful public image by replacing it with the "good mother" image.
They are going to hate her for this one day.
Don't go crazy, Charlie...I know it is tempting, but if you do you will have lost to petty vindictiveness...and if you don't, you will be able to look back at your life and, if nothing else, truly tell yourself: "Well, at least I tried to set a good example for my kids.".
I agree with comments regarding the judge. What happened to common sense here considering that it's obvious the parents had none to even consider this reality mess? Denise Richards only needs to look at the Lohans and Spears because in 10 years that is what she will have created by exposing these children to this kind of scrutiny at this early age.
My heart breaks for those two lovely children. Neither parent seems to be able to grow up enough to take charge, and the babies have become the instruments in the parental war, and now are being exploited to serve the raw ambition of the mother. If the father had cared about them, perhaps he could have forced himself to behave like a father while it still matter...if he had, he would have custody of them. If this kind of emotional battering were physical, those children would rightly be in foster homes.
This mother went on The View to claim that all she wanted was to "protect" her children. She said this while promoting a televsion reality show that would expose those very children and her personal life to more potential harm and scrutiny. I don't believe this mother is being sincere, but is looking like the money grubbing stage parent...
Sorry Denise, but do by all means protect your children and don't throw them out there on a show that is of no real significance to those of us on the outside.
Couldn't have said it better.
Denise is the one who is looking like the bad parent here and a judge who couldn't see that a parent SHOULD be allowed to change his/her mind with regards to their children's mental and emotional stability and even physical safety is an idiot judge.
For him to simply pass it off as "a deal is a deal" show just how brain dead this judge is and should not be on the bench.
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