Actor Charlie Sheen has accused the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) of libel after the organisation’s national director called the actor’s remarks about his Jewish manager “borderline antisemitic”.

The star, known for the now on-hold series Two and a Half Men, has been the subject of media gossip in recent weeks for increasingly erratic behaviour, including alleged drug use and violence.

But after being accused of making an anti-Jewish slur he instructed his lawyer, Marty Singer, to demand a retraction and an apology from the ADL.

In a letter to the organisation Mr Singer said: “We are shocked and disappointed that the ADL has been disseminating malicious false statements.”

Mr Singer said that it was “patently untrue and highly defamatory” to suggest that Mr Sheen was antisemitic because he referred to Chuck Lorre as “Chaim Levine” during a rant on a radio programme.

He said Mr Sheen used the name not to express “purported disdain , ” but because Mr Lorre had previously said on national television that he had spent “a lifetime moving away” from his Jewish heritage.

An ADL spokesman said: “Since Charlie Sheen has made this a legal issue…we will refrain from making any further comment at this time.”