Cryer says he earned a third of Sheen's pay on Two and a Half Men

Jon Cryer says he earned roughly a third of what his former Two and a Half Men costar Charlie Sheen was paid at the height of the sitcoms success, and he blamed the discrepancy on studio eagerness to preserve the show even as Sheen's personal life unraveled. Cryer made the comments in the Netflix documentary aka Charlie Sheen, which premiered Sept. 10, saying Sheen negotiated a massive pay bump while publicly struggling with addiction and behavioral problems on the CBS series.

"Hes in the midst of falling apart in every way I can imagine, and hes renegotiating his contract for another year of a show that Im supposed to be on too," Cryer says in the film. He likened the dynamic to foreign governments propping up an unpredictable strongman, comparing Sheen to the late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and arguing that studios were willing to pay extraordinary sums because they had already committed to additional seasons.

Forbes reported in 2011 that Sheen was earning about $1.9 million per 22 minute episode, a figure Cryer cited as the basis for his claim that he received roughly one third of Sheens salary. The Hollywood Reporter has reported figures for Cryers pay that are...