NEWSDenise Richards Admits She Struggles to Co-Parent With Ex Charlie Sheen: 'I Wish We Were Friends'
Denise Richards does not maintain a close relationship or co-parent with her ex Charlie Sheen.
April 1 2025, Published 1:34 p.m. ET
Co-parenting amicably was never in cards for Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen.
The actress, 54, revealed she and her ex-husband struggle to be on the same page when it comes to raising their two daughters and do not maintain a friendship.
Denise Richards does not maintain a close relationship or co-parent with her ex Charlie Sheen.
"Truthfully, it wasn't co-parenting. I parent my way. He parents his way, and there was no co-parenting," she said on the Tuesday, April 1, episode of "Whine Down With Jana Kramer."
"I have kids with him, and I'm not really — I'm friendly with Charlie, but I wish we were friends and that we could talk all the time and be able to be there really for each other with our girls," she continued. "But that's just not the relationship we have. Maybe one day. But, I mean right now, there's nothing. There's no discord between he and I, which is great."
Denise Richards shares two daughters with Charlie Sheen.
Richards shares her daughters Sami, 21, and Lola Sheen, 19, with the TV star.
Outside of their relationship, the Love Actually actress adopted a child named Eloise, 13, as a single parent. Charlie, 59, has a 40-year-old daughter from his high-school romance, as well as twin boys with his ex-wife Brooke Mueller.
"I was always an advocate of wanting everything to be great and be friends and blend the family because he had two boys with his wife after me," Denise explained on the podcast. "I just didn't want the girls to feel like they had to choose sides."
Denise Richards divorced Charlie Sheen in 2005.
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Denise noted that she tries to keep a mature and polite rapport with Charlie.
"I never talked bad about him in front of the kids, and that's hard to do — to hold your tongue and not say certain things at times," she explained. "I don't know if I did a disservice to them with that as well because now that they're older, they're discovering things that they didn't know."
Denise Richards does not remain friends with Charlie Sheen.
The exes suffered a messy divorce in 2005, the same year Denise was pregnant with Lola. The couple is rumored to have split due to Charlie's struggles with substance abuse, which created a toxic environment at home.
The Real Housewives alum — who is currently married to Aaron Phypers — told the "Divorced Not Dead" podcast in 2022, "the behind-the-scenes stuff was way worse than what was out there." Although she admitted she lives no regrets, she did ultimately realize she would never want her daughters to be married to a man like him.
Denise Richards adopted a third child when she was single.
Denise carried the guilt of splitting up her daughters' parents for a long time — so much so, she even tried to reunite with Charlie after Lola was born. However, the reconciliation was ultimately not successful.
"It made me also know I could one day tell my girls that I did everything I could possibly do to make this family unit," she told the podcast's host, Caroline Stanbury. "I felt the most guilty splitting up the family unit. I struggled with that for years."
