MOVIES

Charlie Sheen might disclose he's HIV positive

Staff Writer
The Columbus Dispatch
Charlie Sheen

NEW YORK — Former Two and a Half Men star Charlie Sheen is to make a “revealing, personal announcement” on the Today show on Tuesday, following reports in online and tabloid media that the actor has been diagnosed as HIV positive.

Sheen’s representatives could not be reached for comment.

NBC said in a statement on Monday that Sheen, 50, would make an announcement in a live interview on its morning Today show.

It did not give details of the interview, but website TMZ.com, citing sources close to the show, said Sheen would use the interview to announce that he is HIV-positive. The National Enquirer reported on Monday following an 18-month investigation that Sheen was diagnosed HIV-positive some years ago.

Sheen quickly became one of the top-10 surges on worldwide trends on Twitter on Monday, and Google searches for his name associated with HIV exploded, according to Google.

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

Sheen played the womanizing bachelor Charlie Harper on the top-rated comedy Two and a Half Men for eight years before being fired in 2011 for bad behavior that included cocaine-fueled partying with porn stars and a conviction for assaulting his ex-wife.

Sheen, who has been divorced three times, then lived with a number of porn stars he called “ goddesses” and delivered a series of rants on YouTube boasting of having “tiger blood” in his veins.

Sheen, the son of actor Martin Sheen, starred in the TV comedy Anger Management, which was closely based on his life, from 2012 to 2014.