Lawyers were working overtime today as The National Enquirer put its very existence on the line when it decided to release this week's cover two days before the periodical's normal Wednesday publication date due to the fact Charlie Sheen was trying to pre-empt them by getting booked on the "Today" show to make the announcement himself.
“The cover wasn’t scheduled to be released until Wednesday,” said a National Enquirer insider. “They designed and rushed the cover out once they realized Charlie would come forward. They have been working on this story for months, and have known they were doing this cover for two weeks.”
The source added that while Sheen’s team was threatening to sue, editors finally got approval to publish from the Enquirer’s legal team by amassing a trove of emails, texts and on-the-record interviews with prostitutes and drug dealers who have been involved in one way or another with the troubled actor.
“(The Enquirer) finally said, ‘Bring it on, we’re doing the story,’” said the source. “And they expect it will be huge. They worked on it for a year and a half.”
The result is an eight-page spread inside the mag which claims Sheen has “slept with thousands of women,” “hid the deadly HIV virus for four years,” and “spent millions to silence the truth.”
Once told the issue was coming out on Wednesday, Sheen’s people tried to get ahead of the story by booking him on Tuesday morning’s “Today,” where he is set to reveal he has the disease, multiple sources have confirmed. NBC touted the interview in a press release as Sheen making a "revealing personal announcement."
“Charlie has been keeping the lid on this story for months, years, and wanted it to stay that way, but the Enquirer had it,” added the inside source. “(Sheen’s) legal team has been dealing with The National Enquirer for weeks. That’s why the magazine first ran the story as a blind item last week. However, once the news about the interview leaked, the Enquirer hit ‘Send’ on the cover immediately.”
The magazine hits newsstands Wednesday. Expect it to be a collectors item.
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