In November 2015, Hollywood’s bad boy Charlie Sheen became a hero when he disclosed that he was HIV positive, in a television interview that followed weeks of speculation about his condition. “I am here to admit that I am in fact HIV positive and I have to put a stop to this onslaught, this barrage of attacks, of sub-truths – very harmful … stories that are threatening the health of so many others,” he said. The Two and a Half Men actor revealed that he had learned about the diagnosis “roughly four years ago”, while adding, “It’s a hard three letters to absorb.” “I release myself from this prison today,” he declared, claiming that certain people who knew his HIV-positive status had extorted money from him to keep it a secret.
“People say, ‘What does it feel like to be the face of HIV?’. I’m like, ‘Euugh, unintentional’
Speaking on how he contracted it, he said, “I was always the guy that promoted it and said you’ve got to use condoms, this and that… I was too drunk or too bored one night and here we are.” His humour surfaced again, as he said, “HIV is not the best pick-up line. So it has happened as a result of everybody else and myself having the knowledge, and that’s fine,” he explained, adding, “I make jokes about the diagnosis because you have to. Otherwise, it’s just ‘awkward city’.”
He even quipped, “People say, ‘What does it feel like to be the face of HIV?’. I’m like, ‘Euugh, unintentional’. But if that’s the reality of it, then so be it.” Attempting to use the diagnosis to turn his life around, he revealed, “I have mad gratitude, 100 percent. Thank you. My life is more fluid, it’s more courageous, it’s more heroic… 'You’d be amazed how much more you can accomplish and how much more you can learn when you’re not just trying to have sex.”
Back in 1985, Hollywood leading man Rock Hudson became the first celebrity to go public with the news that he was suffering from AIDS. He died that year due to complications from the disease.
Soon afterannounced his condition in 1991, he died of AIDS-related complications.
