Actor Charlie Sheen has become the highest profile person to publicly reveal he is HIV positive.
The Two And A Half Men actor spoke about his HIV status in an interview with NBC’s The Today Show. The interview took place days after The Sun’s Dan Wootton attracted criticism for the way in which his article spoke about an unnamed actor with HIV, causing Hollywood ‘HIV panic”.
In his interview the 50-year-old actor said,
‘I am here to admit that I am in fact HIV positive,’
‘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.’
He told the Today Show that he was diagnosed roughly four years ago and has tried to keep his status out of the public arena since then.
According to the heterosexual actor, he has paid out ‘millions’ to people who have blackmailed him threatening to reveal his status, which he has known about for four years.
He did not reveal how he contracted the virus.
