Charlie Sheen is a celebrated Hollywood veteran. He is has acted in close to 50 movies and was the star of “Two and a Half Men,” a CBS comedy in which he played the role of Charlie Harper, hedonistic jingle writer, whose lifestyle was crimped by his divorced brother and his nephew who moved in with him. Sheen, the son of actor Martin Sheen and brother to actor Emilio Estevez, rose to fame and riches, thanks to an unusual deal that saw his salary for the sitcom role peak at $1.25 million per episode!
Sheen was listed in 2013 as No. 67 on Forbes’ List of top 100 celebrities, rated by earnings, although his ranking has slipped since then. His residence is in Los Angeles, CA. He has been married three times and is currently divorced. Currently 51, he has five children and one grandchild.
Is Charlie HIV positive?
“I’m here to admit I am, in fact, HIV positive.”
These were his own words on NBC’s “Today” show to Matt Lauer, as quoted by CNN. Sheen said he contracted the virus five years ago but never came out publicly to admit the same. According to his statement, it was about time that he put to an end the “onslaught, this barrage of attacks and sub-truths,” that portrayed him as someone threatening the health of many other people with his reckless lifestyle.
In an interview, he explained that he wasn’t sure how he contracted the virus but went ahead to say that he has managed to tell all his sexual partners of his condition and said that it is “impossible” to have transmitted it to any of them.
Sheen said he suffered a cluster of headaches one after another as well as night sweats before subjecting himself to a battery of tests that confirmed he was HIV positive.
Though described as fine and physically healthy, he said, “It’s a hard three letters word to absorb” and that the diagnosis was a turning point of his life.
After receiving the results, he decided to share the diagnosis with some people he trusted, but some ended up blackmailing lots of money from him to keep his secret. He says he paid those blackmailing him “in the millions,” which was later revealed as more than ten million dollars! This included one prostitute who entered his bathroom, took a cell phone picture of his medication, then threatened to expose him by selling the image if he didn’t pay her.
One of the reasons he came out publicly to share his HIV status was to put an end to the blackmailing schemes. When asked if would continue paying the people, he said: “Not after today.”
Charlie has HIV but not AIDS
Also interviewed on the “Today” show, Robert Huizenga, Sheen’s doctor, who is also an assistant professor of clinical medicine at UCLA, said Sheen does not have AIDS. This is to say that the virus has not significantly suppressed Charlie’s immune system.
Charlie is currently free of the serious infections that come when HIV is not managed correctly. From the interview with Lauer, Charlie noted only one possibility through which he contracted the virus, and that is unprotected sex. He denied the possibility of getting HIV through drug injections and was cited in The Sun tabloid as saying he has only engaged in unprotected sex twice! With Lauer, he even indicated that he was no longer on drugs, but did go on with drinking and seeking the company of prostitutes.
Sheen has long admitted to his frequent use of prostitutes. In 1995, he said in court, testifying at the tax evasion trial of famous Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss, that he once spent $53,000 dollars on “sexual services” in one 15-month period.
Since his diagnosis, Sheen indicated he had unprotected sex with two women under his doctor’s care. Though this has raised a lot of concern, the doctor explains that it is highly unlikely that he infected the two. Currently, the Hollywood sensation is under treatment on strong anti-viral drugs, four pills daily, that have suppressed the virus to a point that he is completely healthy according to his doctor, Huizenga. Sheen says he has never missed his daily medication even in difficult moments when struggling with depression and substance abuse. Backing up this statement, his doctor indicated that Sheen undergoes medical tests every 3-4 months and results indicate that his viral load is at low levels.
Usual ups and downs
Sheen, whose fame as a Hollywood bad-boy matches his fame as an actor, may be struggling with his ups and downs, but you can still remember him from featured roles in films “Wall Street” and “Eight Men Out.” That fame was eclipsed by his 2011 meltdown in which he publicly lashed out at the creator of “Two and A Half Men,” while publicly admitting his lust for drugs and prostitutes. Sheen has been to a rehab clinic twice and lived with three women at one point, seemingly proud of his womanizing and drug taking. Sheen repeated some of these claims when interviewed in 2016 by Dan Wootton of The Sun.
HIV is a tough blow, but Sheen is healthy and could live a long life with the drugs he is taking. An early diagnosis and a quick viral management response are critical to managing HIV, doctors say. Sheen has even said he finds relief in his newfound lifestyle of not chasing after sexual conquests all the time.
References:
https://edition.cnn.com/2015/11/17/health/charlie-sheen-health/index.html
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