Actor Charlie Sheen shocked the world, Tuesday morning, when he confirmed his HIV positive diagnosis with Matt Lauer on the Today Show.
TMZ.com broke the news just 24 hours before the actor was said to confirm the speculation amid rumors that there would be litigation by former partners he may not have disclosed his diagnosis with.
Speaking with Lauer this morning Sheen says of learning of his HIV status four years ago, “I thought I had a brain tumor. I thought it was over,” he said. “It’s a hard three letters to absorb. It’s a turning point in one’s life.”
But Sheen insists he never hid his status from his partners. “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’s trusted the diagnosis with people he thought he could confide in, but has paid out upwards of $10 million to keep the illness a secret.
“What people forget is that that’s money they’re taking from my children,” he said about the “shakedowns” he has experienced. “I trusted them and they were deep in my inner circle, and I thought they could be helpful. My trust turned to their treason.”
Sheen says his diagnosis came around the time of his public meltdown which led to being fired from hit television series, Two and a Half Men. The same show that garnered him a high salary and the highest paid actor at the time.
He also says that despite the obvious, his diagnosis isn’t what led to his meltdown but “[ste]roid rage.”
It was also shortly after his marriage to Brooke Mueller ended, and Sheen said he immediately reached out to her to be tested. The star later noted that, as of this moment, he doesn’t entirely know how he contracted the virus, but he’s currently taking a so-called “triple cocktail” of pills every day to manage it.
You may watch Sheen’s confession and exclusive sit down with Lauer below.
(Source: Today Show)
