PHOTOSCharlie Sheen Confirms He’s HIV Positive, What We Learned From His Interview
Nov. 17 2015, Updated 12:17 p.m. ET
A day after The National Enquirer revealed that Charlie Sheen is HIV-positive, the actor admitted he contracted the virus "rougly about four years ago" in an interview on the Today show.
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The actor confirmed that he did have unprotected sex since learning of his diagnosis but the partners were aware he had HIV and he believes it is “impossible” he could have passed it on.
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“I’m here to admit that I am in fact HIV-positive,” Sheen told Matt Lauer, admitting he contracted the virus about four years ago and has paid a hefty sum “in the millions” to people to keep quiet.
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As for stigma, Sheen said he does not harbor any disgrace about being HIV-positive. “I think I released myself from this prison today,” he said. “I have a responsibility now to better myself and to help a lot of other people and hopefully with what we’re doing today others may come forward and say, ‘Thanks Charlie.’”
RadarOnline reported via The National Enquirer that Sheen was suffering from the virus for years and has boasted to sleeping with more than 5,000 women over the years.
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“Charlie thought he was indestructible and took no precautions — even though he was indulging in high-risk sex practices,” a source told Radar.
As many as four women have come forward claiming they were exposed to HIV after being with Sheen, all of which he engaged with “without informing them of his potentially deadly HIV infection.”
Sheen also paid off one of the females in a hush-hush settlement not to disclose the news and has several other lawsuits pending.
Radar reported that Sheen hid his diagnosis for years in fear “that he will be remembered not as a great actor, but as someone who contracted the disease.”
Charlie Sheen is best known for his role on Two and a Half Men and once was the highest paid star on TV, worth over $125 million. He has long struggled with substance abuse and has admitted to bedding plenty of women and prostitutes over the years.
The actor was most recently married to Brooke Mueller from 2008 to 2011 and had a famous tumultuous relationship with Denise Richards from 2002 to 2006. He has two twin boys with Brooke, two children with Denise and another child with Paula Profit.
