Charlie Sheen reveals he is HIV+
Hollywood star Charlie Sheen has revealed on NBC's Today show in an interview with Matt Lauer that he has HIV. Sheen admitted he'd spent millions to keep this news from getting public. He said this revelation was to stop getting blackmailed and "put a stop to this onslaught, this barrage of attacks and of sub-truths," he said, adding he was diagnosed four years ago.
Charlie Sheen's acting career began with the movie Red Dawn in 1984. Sheen has a number of successful movies to his name like Platoon (1986), Lucas(1986), Wall Street(1987), Eight Men Out (1988), Young-Guns(1988), Major League (1989), Hotshots (1991), The Three Musketeers (1993), The Arrival(1996), Money Talks(1997), and Being John Malkovich(1999) amongst many others.
Charlie Sheen became the highest paid television action in 2010 taking home a whopping $1.8 million per episode of Two and a Half Men.
Sheen had a very public fallout with the production of Two and a Half Men which went on hiatus in January 2011 because of his substance rehabilitation program. In February, CBS canceled the 4 remaining episodes of the season after he publicly made disparaging comments on Warner Bros. and Chuck Lorre. On 7 March 2011, Sheen was dismissed and replaced by Ashton Kutcher.
Sheen's substance problems came to surface on 20 May 1998 when he suffered a stroke because of cocaine overdose and was hospitalized. Sheen was arrested on 25 December 2009 for assaulting his wife, Brooke Mueller and was released after posting a $8,500 bond. On 26 October 2010, Sheen was arrested from the Plaza Hotel after he caused damages worth $7000.
Sheen set a Ticketmaster-record when on 10 March 2011 he announced his nationwide-tour, "My Violent Torpedo of Truth/Defeat is Not An Option" which sold out in 18 minutes. On 19 September 2011, Comedy Central roasted Sheen. 6.4 million people viewed it-the highest roast viewership till date. In 2011, Sheen set Guinness World Record on Twitter for being "Fastest Time to Reach 1 Million Followers".
Despite testing HIV+, Charlie Sheen's doctors said that he did not have AIDS and was healthy. Charlie's doctor Robert Huizenga said despite Sheen's erratic tendencies he had not missed a day of medication and hence had been able to suppress the virus. Charlie also said that nobody else had contracted the disease from him and neither did he know how he got it.
Lady Gaga supported Sheen by posting a screengrab on Instagram from Sheen's "Today" interview captioning it "#BraveCharlie." Piers Morgan too praised the star saying: "Bravo @charliesheen – that took guts today. Proud to be your mate." Stephen King also tweeted after Sheen's confession. Sheen's Spin City co-star Heather Locklear too extended support: "My heart hurts. Prayers for Charlie and his family."​
