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Charlie Sheen has confirmed he is HIV positive on The Today Show.

In an interview with Matt Lauer on Tuesday, the actor said he feels like he has ‘released myself from this prison today.’

‘I’m here to admit that I am in fact HIV positive,’ said Sheen. ‘It’s a hard three letters to absorb.’

The actor confirmed that he discovered that he had the virus, ‘roughly four years ago’, and was forced to go public after a prostitute took a picture of his anti-retroviral medication and threatened to sell it to the tabloids.


The Two And A Half Men star revealed that he has had to pay millions to keep his diagnosis private saying: ‘I have paid those people, not that many, but enough to where it has depleted the future.’

There were some trusted friends who knew, but he called the extortion plots and blackmail a ‘circus of deceit’, and still doesn’t know how he contracted the virus to this day.



‘We’re talking about shakedowns, enough to bring it into the millions,’ the actor said, then confirmed there would be no more pay-offs following the interview.

Charlie said he thought he had a brain tumour when the symptoms first started to develop, which started with ‘a series of cluster headaches, insane migraines and sweating the bed’.

Matt Lauer interviewed the actor (Picture: NBC)

MORE: Charlie Sheen’s ex wife Denise Richards ‘has known about actor’s HIV diagnosis for years’

Sheen says it’s ‘impossible’ that he has passed on the HIV virus to anyone else since learning of his status.

‘I always led with condoms and honesty when it came to my condition,’ he told Lauer.

‘I have a responsibility now to better myself… hopefully with what we’re doing today others may come forward.’

The actor brought his doctor on the show, Robert Huizenga, to confirm he does not have AIDS: ‘AIDS is a condition when the HIV virus markedly suppresses the immune system and you’re susceptible to rare, difficult cancers and infections. Charlie has none of those, he is healthy.’

Charlie’s interview comes after the National Enquirer published a report revealing he had been living with HIV for four years.

MORE: Charlie Sheen’s ex-girlfriends speak out in support of actor, and share their HIV statuses

People magazine confirmed the National Enquirer story with crisis manager Howard Bragman.

Sheen’s past relationships include marriages to three different women, with which he has five children. His first wife was high school sweetheart Paula Profit – their daughter is 21-year-old Cassandra – while his second wife was actress Denise Richards and they share two daughters Sam, 11, and Lola, 10.

The actor’s last marriage was with Brooke Mueller and they have twin six-year-old sons Bob and Max.

Sheen’s last acting job was a guest appearance in US sitcom, The Goldbergs, back in February. It was his first since Anger Management was taken off the air in 2014.

NHS facts about HIV What is HIV? HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is a virus which attacks the immune system, and weakens your ability to fight infections and disease. It’s most commonly caught by having sex without a condom. How do you get it? HIV is found in the body fluids of an infected person, which includes semen, vaginal and anal fluids, blood, and breast milk.

You can contract HIV through: anal or vaginal sex without a condom and through oral sex or sharing sex toys (although the risk is significantly lower than for anal and vaginal sex

using a contaminated needle, syringe or other injecting equipment

tranmission from mother to baby during pregnancy, birth or breastfeeding How do I know if I have it? The only way to find out if you have HIV is to have an HIV test. Is there a cure? There is no cure for HIV, but there are treatments to enable most people with the virus to live a long and healthy life. How common is it? Around one in every 360 people in the UK has HIV, but the two groups with highest rates of HIV are gay and bisexual men and Black African heterosexuals, where the rates are approximately one in 17 and one in 18 respectively. For more information on HIV please visit the NHS Choices website