Hanes drops advertising campaign with Charlie Sheen over domestic violence charges against him

Hanes drops ads featuring Charlie Sheen

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Hanesbrands Inc. has ended its advertising campaign featuring Charlie Sheen because of domestic violence charges filed against the actor, a company spokesman said Wednesday.

Spokesman Matt Hall said the seriousness of the allegations against the 44-year-old actor made the decision necessary.

“It’s a pretty standard, straightforward call when somebody who’s in your commercials is arrested on suspicion of something of this magnitude,” Hall said. “And we would suspend the ads both for the company and, really, for Mr. Sheen and his family as well. Given the publicity, it makes sense to not air those ads during that time.”

Hall said the television ads were stopped effective Dec. 28, the first business day after Sheen was arrested. He said some print ads will continue to appear into the spring.

“Unfortunately, the production schedule of those publications do not allow us to pull those ads,” Hall said.

The “Two and a Half Men” star was arrested in Aspen, Colo., on Christmas Day on charges including felony menacing and domestic violence. His wife Brooke Sheen told police he put a knife to her throat and threatened to kill her. Sheen denies the allegations.

His publicist Stan Rosenfield says the actor has no comment on the Hanes decision. Hanes is based in Winston-Salem.

Hall says Sheen wouldn’t have been retained when his contract expired in the middle of the year. He says Sheen has been a pitchman for almost two years. Hall also said there would be minimal impact from pulling the ads.

“We have other commercials. We have commercials for our socks, and so we’ll probably push those commercials some more,” he said. “We really don’t view the first half of the year as a marketing-critical time for the advertiser, so we don’t think there’s any detriment to the brand by not having the opportunity to run these ads if we wanted to.”

The ads feature Sheen and basketball legend Michael Jordan, a longtime spokesman for Hanes. In the series, Sheen is seen in several settings telling Jordan about the Hanes underwear he’s wearing. Jordan drives away from Sheen in one of the ads; in another spot, Sheen backs his car over a bellstand and an outdoor heater after seeing Jordan in a parking lot.