Charlie Sheen reveals he's HIV positive in TODAY Show exclusive
Charlie Sheen revealed he is HIV positive Tuesday in an exclusive TODAY interview with Matt Lauer.
"I am here to admit that I am in fact HIV positive," the 50-year-old actor said.
"I have to put a stop to this barrage of attacks and sub-truths and very harmful and mercurial stories that are about me that threaten the health of so many others," he said. "[It] couldn't be farther from the truth."
Sheen said he was diagnosed roughly four years ago.
"It's a hard three letters to absorb. It's a turning point in one's life."
See photos of Charlie Sheen through the years:
The revelation renewed a spotlight on Sheen's troubled history with drug addiction, pornography and prostitutes.
Sheen rose to become one of Hollywood's best-known actors through a series of memorable movie roles including "Wall Street" and "Red Dawn." In more recent years, however, his public persona was shaped by a public meltdown during his 2011 feud with the creator of "Two and a Half Men," the television series that helped him become the highest-paid television actor at the time. In the end,Sheen was fired from the show.
On the program, Sheen played an irresponsible womanizer who moves in with his single-dad brother. The characterization seemed to be a perfect fit for Sheen, who was a tabloid staple in the 1990s. He entered drug rehabilitation programs and, in 1995, was called to testify in a trial against Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss. He admitted to spending more than $50,000 on prostitutes through her ring.
Sheen's most recent show, "Anger Management," went off the air last year.
Sheen has two children each with former wives, Denise Richards and Brooke Mueller.
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