In clips released from his "Today" show interview airing on Tuesday, Charlie Sheen reveals he is HIV positive.
He discovered he had contracted the virus after suffering from "crushing headaches and insane migraines and sweating the bed, completely drenched two to three nights in a row," People reports. He later went to hospital where he received the diagnosis.
The actor, who says he was diagnosed four years ago, also tells interviewer Matt Lauer that he has paid more than $10 million to keep this a secret, according to Today.com.
These payments to people he believed was in his inner circle is why he's going public now, he explains.
"That's my goal. That's not my only goal. I think I release myself from this prison today," he told Lauer.
"Having divulged [my diagnosis] is the reason I'm in the mess that I'm in with all the shakedowns," he explains. "Again, I can't sit here and worry about it. I can only sit here with you and tell my truth."
One of Sheen's ex-girlfriends, Bree Olson, who works in the adult film industry, took to Twitter to discuss getting tested for HIV, and said she is not positive for the virus:
Sheen's ex-wives, Brook Mueller and Denise Richards have both separately confirmed to People via spokespeople neither they nor their children with Sheen are HIV positive.
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