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Charlie Sheen Confirms He’s HIV-Positive, Explains Why He Went Public

Nov 17, 2015  •  Post A Comment

Actor Charlie Sheen confirmed in a TV interview that he’s HIV-positive, breaking his silence on rumors that have been circulating for weeks.

EW.com reports that Sheen, interviewed by Matt Lauer this morning on NBC’s “Today” show, said: “I’m here to admit that I am in fact HIV positive. I have to put a stop to this onslaught, this barrage of attacks, of sub-truths. Very harmful and mercurial stories that are threatening the health of so many others … which couldn’t be farther from the truth.”

Sheen said he received the diagnosis four years ago, and said he does not know how he contracted the virus.

The actor told Lauer: “It started with what I thought was a series of cluster headaches. Sweating the bed. I was hospitalized. I thought I had a brain tumor. I thought it was over. … It’s a hard three letters to absorb. It’s a turning point in one’s life.”

EW.com adds: “Sheen said that he spent millions to keep sex partners quiet over the last four years (with Lauer later revealing that Sheen had told him off camera that the number was around $10 million). Sheen recalled an incident where a woman took a photo of the antiretroviral medications in his bathroom after a sexual encounter and threatened to sell the photo to the tabloids. He hoped Tuesday’s revelation would put an end to the extortion.”

Sheen added that it is “impossible” that he could have infected anyone else. The story notes that Sheen said his partners knew he was HIV-positive, and that condoms were almost always used. He added: “The two people I [had unprotected sex with], that [was done] under the care of my doctor.”

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