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Jones rakes in a rumoured $350,000 per episode for playing Jake Harper in the hit comedy Two and a Half Men – exorbitant by any standards, let alone for someone who just turned 19. But it's not more money that he's after. Instead, he wants out. He has appeared in a YouTube video decrying the show as "filth".
And who could argue?
The show is a little raunchy, and, until he was fired last year, its main star was Charlie "tiger blood" Sheen. But Jones' rant was not some throwaway statement issued to eager reporters on the red carpet – it was a full half-hour "testimony" on his conversion to the Seventh Day Adventist Church. "Jake from Two and a Half Men means nothing. He is a non-existent character. If you watch Two and a Half Men please stop watching. I'm on Two and a Half Men and I don't want to be on it," he said. "Please stop watching it, please stop filling your head with filth."
That poor boy
Many people afflicted with child stardom end up paying a heavy price – it turned Lindsay Lohan into a rehab veteran and rendered Drew Barrymore a drug addict, to name but two. And Jones had always seemed so normal – his media appearances were affable and he appeared unaffected by the surrounding hullabaloo. But now his mother claims she is "concerned he's being exploited by the Church".
Should we be concerned about the Church's teachings?
Jones said God contacted him "personally" to tell him he should "get it together" when his life began to spiral out of control. He felt unhappy, and started dabbling in drugs (well, he learned from the best). However, you wonder if the Forerunner Christian Church is the best place for him. His mentor, Christopher Hudson, has posted videos claiming Jay-Z is a "third degree master mason" and compared President Obama to Hitler.
And what does this mean for Two and a Half Men?
The show's boss, Chuck Lorre, has been tight-lipped so far, but this outburst does make Jones' position untenable. And with the stellar Big Bang Theory on its schedule, CBS can afford to ditch one of its best-loved productions.
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