Charlie Sheen confirms he has been HIV-positive for four years...

I have to admit that this by far the most shocking interview I've read, OMG! I'm not totally shocked tho. If you were a fan of the TV series 2 and a half men you will agree with me that this diagnosis wasn't far fetched. His character in that series reflects who he is in real life...

Former 2 and a Half Men star, Charlie Sheen has revealed that he is HIV positive in an interview with Matt Lauer on Today.

'I'm here to admit that I am in fact HIV positive,' said Sheen. 

'It's a hard three letters to absorb. It's a turning point in one's life,' he later added.  

Charlie Sheen said that he learned he had the virus 'roughly four years ago.' 

His doctor, Robert Huizenga, later said he had known Sheen for five or six years and that the virus is now 'undetectable' in his blood.

Sheen also said that he was 'not entirely' sure how he contracted the virus and that he felt a huge sense of relief after publicly revealing his status.

'It started with what I thought was a series of crushing headaches and insane migraines and sweating the bed completely drenched, two, three nights in a row,' said Sheen of his first symptoms. 

'I was emergency hospitalized. I thought I had a brain tumor. I thought it was over.

'After a battery of tests ... they walked in the room and said "BOOM. Here's what's going on."' 

Sheen said that he had told people that he trusted his status over the past few years, but also bought the silence of others.

'I have to put a stop to this onslaught, this barrage of attacks and of sub-truths and very harmful and mercurial stories that are about me, that threaten the health of so many others that couldn't be further from the truth,' said Sheen about his decision to go public with his status. 

'We're talking about shakedowns,' Sheen said of some of the people he had been forced to pay to keep quiet.

'I have paid those people. Not that many, but enough.

'I don’t want to guess wrong, but enough to bring into the millions. What people forget: that’s money they’re taking from my children; I’ve got five kids and a granddaughter.' 

In a letter to Lauer written before his appearance, Sheen said of his life after learning of his diagnosis;

 'In and around this perplexing and difficult time I dazedly choose or hired the companionship of unsavory or insipid types.

'Regardless of their saltless reputations, I always led with condoms and honesty when it came to my condition.

'Sadly, my truth soon became their treason as a deluge of blackmail and extortion took center stage in this circus of deceit.'

Sheen said that many of the people he was referring to in that letter did not have sexual contact with him, but rather discovered his status and threatened to reveal it to the world.

'For some reason I trusted them, they were deep in my inner circle and I thought that they could be helpful,' said Sheen.

'And instead, as I wrote in my letter, my trust turned to their treason.' 

Just hours after Sheen told this to Lauer, the actor's former girlfriend Bree Olson made an appearance on The Howard Stern Show telling a very different story.

She claimed that Sheen never once revealed to her that he was HIV positive, and that she was actually with him when he had his intense 'night sweats.'

'That was when I was with him. I was living with him. I was sleeping with him every single night,' said Olson.

'And never said a word.'

Olson, 29, went on to say that Sheen even went so far as to tell her he was 'clean,' and used lambskin condoms when they were together, which provide less protection than latex condoms and do not protect against viral sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV.

'It's illegal,' Olson said of Sheen's decision to not disclose his status. 

In the state of California it is a felony punishable by up to eight years in prison for a person to have unprotected sex with someone with the intent to infect them and not disclose their status. It is also a misdemeanor to willfully expose someone to HIV, though that carries a prison sentence of just a few months.

After Sheen split with Olson he began to date adult film star Scottine Ross, who he became engaged to in February 2014.

The pair broke up in October 2014, one month before their wedding. 

TMZ is reporting that already six of Sheen's former sexual partners are planning to sue the actor for 'intentional infliction of emotional distress, fraud, sexual battery.' 

Some of these women are alleging they have had both protected and unprotected sex with Sheen as recently as a month ago.

Sheen admitted to Lauer that at one point a prostitute came to his home and after a sexual encounter took a photograph of his antiviral medication. She then threatened to sell it to the tabloids.

'After I told her, "Thank you for your time, we're not going to see each other any more,"' explained Sheen.

'It was after she spent the day at the health food store buying me herbal medications to help me.' 

When asked if he was still paying anyone for their silence, Sheen said; 'Not after today I'm not.'

He then said; 'I think I release myself from this prison today.' 

Lauer then asked Sheen why he continued to cavort with 'unsavory' characters even after some were able to successfully extort him.

'Because I was so depressed by the condition I was in I was doing a lot of drugs. I was drinking. And I was making really bad decisions,' said Sheen. 

'That part I own. 100 percent.'

He also said it was 'impossible' that he had transmitted the virus to anyone else and that he had informed every partner he has had that he is HIV positive. 

When asked if he had engaged in unprotected sex since being diagnosed with the virus Sheen admitted that he had with two partners, but that the individuals were aware of his status and under the care of his doctor.

PrEP ( pre-exposure prophylaxis) pills can be taken by people who have not been exposed to HIV to help them prevent becoming infected by a sexual partner.

Lauer then asked Sheen is he had engaged in any other 'risky behaviors' over the past few years.

'Negative. No, you're talking about needles and that whole mess. No. Definitely not,' said Sheen.

In another passage from  the letter Sheen wrote to Lauer, the actor said of the his state after being diagnosed; 'The personal disbelief, karmic confusion, shame and anger led to a temporary yet abysmal descent into profound substance abuse and fathomless drinking.' 

Lauer asked if Sheen's behavior in early 2011 when he did a slew of interviews with almost every major network in which he claimed to have 'tiger blood' and be a 'ninja assassin from Mars' was a result of learning about his diagnosis.

'I wish I could blame it on that but that was more of a 'roid rage,' said Sheen. 

'But this was on the heels of that I would say.'

The actor was then joined by his doctor who explained what Sheen's diagnosis meant for his health moving forward.

'Charlie has contracted the HIV virus,' said Huizenga.

'He was immediately put on strong antiviral drugs which have suppressed the virus. Unfortunately, we don't have a cure yet. 

'It has suppressed the virus to the point that he is absolutely healthy from that vantage and my biggest concern with Charlie as a patient is substance abuse and depression from the disease more than what the HIV virus could do in terms of shortening his life.' 

He then firmly stated that Sheen does not have AIDS. 

'He is healthy. He does not have AIDS,' said Huizenga. 

Speaking of the possibility of Sheen infecting others with the virus Huizenga said; 'Individuals who are optimally treated, who have undetectable viral loads, who responsibly use protection, it's incredibly low. It's incredibly rare to transmit the virus.' 

Sheen also said that he is not longer doing drugs at this time, and taking four pills a day as part of his drug cocktail to fight the virus. 

He did admit that he is still drinking a little bit.

'We're petrified about Charlie. We're so, so anxious,' said Huizenga is reference to the actor's lapses in the past with drugs and alcohol.

'If he was overly depressed, if he was abusing substances he would forget these pills. That's been an incredibly worry.

'And magically somehow in the midst of incredible personal mayhem he's managed to continue to take these medications.' 

Sheen then said that since being diagnosed he has never once missed taking his medication.

Approximately 1.2 million people in the United States are living with HIV.

Sheen said he was prepared to face lawsuits after his admission, but repeated once again he had always been honest about his status once he learned he had contracted the virus.

'I mean I would be predicting the future and assuming the worst. I can only imagine based on what I've already experienced, what's already come down the pike and I've been forced to deal with, I'm sure that's next,' said Sheen. 

Lauer then asked Sheen is he was nervous about the possibility of facing criminal charges, noting that in 35 states an individual can be charged if they engage in sexual activity with someone but do not divulge the fact that they are HIV positive. 

Sheen told Lauer that he had in fact divulged his status, pointing out that his honesty about being infected is why he was forced to pay millions to but the silence of multiple individuals. 

Talk then turned to Sheen's financial situation, which he said was 'not great.'

'It'll be great again. I'm a survivor,' said Sheen.

'I've been up, I've been down. I've been rich, I've been poor ... It's another chapter in my life that's not commerce driven but it's socially driven.'

He also said that he had told his oldest daughter Cassandra a few nights before the interview that he was HIV positive and that his ex-wives Denise Richards and Brooke Mueller had known for years. 

Mueller's rep told US Weekly on Tuesday that neither she or her twin boys are HIV positive.

Richards had previously stated that she and Sheen have had no sexual contact since they split in 2005. 

'I told my oldest daughter Cassandra the other night and I felt bad,' said Sheen. 

'It hit her hard and she recovered. She's tough like her dad. And she said, "Wow."'

Sheen then got a bit choked up before he continued to describe their conversation, saying; 'I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, it didn't seem like you could do anything for me and I didn't want to burden you with all the stress.

'But she was a rockstar about it.' 

He did not say if he had told his four youngest children.

Lauer asked Sheen what he thought the headlines would be after making this bombshell admission. 

'I mean you can never really predict how the media's gonna roll with something,' said Sheen.

'I mean, I would hope, or I would have faith, a lot more forgiving and a lot more supportive then some of the garbage I was reading in the last couple of days.

Frankly, I don't think it can get any worse.' 

The talk then turned to reports that Sheen may have knowingly infected individuals, and Lauer brought up reports that some of Sheen's former partners said he did not reveal his status.

If there was one guy on this planet to contract this that's gonna deliver a cure it's me.

'They're gonna have to reveal a whole lot of

proof because it's just not there,' said Sheen of these claims.

'It doesn't exist.'

When asked if he had been successfully sued or settled a lawsuit over the past few years as a result of having the virus, Sheen said;

 'Not for any contamination. Not for any transference.But just for threats of revealing my condition.' 

After Lauer showed Sheen the support he was getting for the interview on social media, the actor said; 

'I'm gonna ride this wave of support and if there was one guy on this planet to contract this that's gonna deliver a cure it's me.' 

He quickly added however;

 'I'm not going to be the poster man for this, but I'm not going to shun away from responsibilities and opportunities that drive me to helping others and delivering a cure.'

Moving forward Sheen said; 

'I have a responsibility now to better myself and to help a lot of other people and hopefully with what we're doing today others will come forward and say, thanks Charlie.' 

He also spoke about work, saying he had the chairman of Sony excited excited about a project and a couple of films lined up in the future.

Sheen said in private conversations prior to Tuesday's interview those involved with these projects had no issue with him publicly revealing the fact that he was HIV positive.

'Thus far there's been no resistance,' said Sheen. 

Lauer closed by asking about how far down the road Sheen was with battling his personal demons, last seen very publicly in 2011.

'I think very far down the road. There's a lot about that period I'm not proud of,' said Sheen.

'You can only hear winning in the street so many times. I pissed off a lot of really good opportunities. But like I said, I'm approaching a time of more of a philanthropic approach in my life.' 

Charlie - who has had three wives, additional fiancees and lived with various porn star 'goddesses'  - has long flouted traditional ways. 

Sheen has been married three times and has five children - a daughter Cassandra, 30, with high school sweetheart Paula Profit; Daughters Sam, 11, and Lola, 10, with second wife Denise Richards; and twin boys Bob and Max, 6, with third wife Brooke Mueller.

He had been engaged to be married to adult film star Scottine Ross, also known as Brett Rossi, but the engagement was called off in October 2014 after eight months. 

I think men and Fathers should try and live a responsible life...