As Kaiser covered earlier today, Charlie Sheen announced on The Today Show that he was diagnosed with HIV four years ago. He was outed in the emails which were leaked during the Sony Hack, and The National Enquirer has been running blind items about a major star with HIV. The Enquirer will put Charlie’s HIV status on their upcoming cover, and so he spoke to the press to try and get ahead of them.
Bree Olsen, a porn star who dated Charlie in 2011, has tweeted that she knew nothing about his diagnosis ahead of time and that she recently went in for an HIV test. She’s been tested every year and come up clean, so it looks like she’s in the clear. The National Enquirer is set to report [via Radar] that Charlie exposed at least four women to the virus, which wouldn’t surprise me in the least. He admitted to Matt Lauer that he’d had unprotected sex with two women but that they both knew his HIV status ahead of time. That seems unlikely.
Radar Online reports that Charlie’s most recent ex wife, Brooke Mueller, and his twin boys, Max and Bob, 6, are HIV negative and did not contract the virus from Charlie. That’s a relief. Radar also has some crazy texts from Brooke to Charlie’s now-deceased ex assistant, blaming her relapse in 2011 on learning about Charlie’s HIV diagnosis. She wrote “I couldn’t handle the HIV news… I started doing heavy drugs with Charlie, staying up for days and it made my brain misfire.” So it’s Charlie’s fault she’s a drug addict? That reminds me of this interview the two of them did in late 2011, which would have been right around that time.
Charlie’s second ex wife, Denise Richards, told Access Hollywood that she’s known about Charlie’s HIV status for years and that both she and their girls, Sam, 11, and Lola, 10, are not infected. A source close to Denise also told Access Hollywood that the two “not been intimate” since their 2006 divorce. Charlie still trashes Denise in the press, evicted her last year from the home he bought her, and tried to cut her child support despite the fact that she’s barely said a bad word against him. I’m so glad that Denise doesn’t have HIV.
Denise is shown out with her daughters and a friend in September and October. Credit: FameFlynet. Other photos are from 2005 (event) and 2012. Credit: Getty Images
Ugh who would touch him? He was gross before we learned about this. Good for Denise
Nice. You do realise there are probably other hiv positive people reading this?
This is about him being gross, not about HIV.
@Zip
The problem is too many people think anyone with HIV is a bad person. Charlie Sheen is a bad person but not because he has HIV. He is a bad person because he is a violent man who treated others like garbage.
Audrey’s not talking about the disease, just about the person. And I agree. He’s utterly gross.
Audrey, please clarify what you’re saying. He’s a gross person, for sure. His HIV status does not make him grosser. There are lots of folks with HIV and you likely interact with them each and every day, just an FYI. Your statement sound incredibly judgmental.
Please, people having been saying “Charlie Sheen is gross” for years and years, we all know he is.
Some are just using this as a chance to get on a soapbox and how off how much more “evolved” THEY are. If someone is actually a bigot about HIV, they’ll be a lot more explicit than this.
There’ll be plenty of bigotry to get on your high horse about.
How it is not enough for her to say that he was gross before we learned of this???
Seriously, go away. Of course her comment was judgemental – she said that he was gross then and he is gross now. Stop looking for a reason to be offended where there isn’t any as though she launched an attack on everyone with HIV. Oh and btw, nobody has to clarify anything just because you tell them to.
My beloved uncle had hiv that later progressed to aids which ultimately he succumbed to. We miss him so much. When I see his picture in my son’s room I always tend to tear up because I miss him so much. That being said, Charlie Sheen is gross, just as Audrey said. His personality and mood swings are vile. I did not take offense to your comment at all. Charlie Sheen does not represent HIV nor my uncle.
“Charlie Sheen does not represent HIV nor my uncle.”
Amen. Charlie Sheen represents what happens when you’re all d*ck and no brain. So sorry about your uncle. It sounds like you have lots of fond memories– may those carry you through the tougher times. *hugs*
He’s a pig and most of the women he sleeps with are prostitutes. No sympathy for him at all.
You ladies need to chill. I specifically said that he was gross before learning of this to make it clear that I’m glad Denise wasn’t still banging him for many reasons which have nothing to do with his HIV status.
Even if he was HIV negative, I’d be proud of Denise for not going back to this creep cause I’m sure he’s tried over the years and offered her a lot to come back to him.
Some of you are being overly emotional and jumping to conclusions. HIV is obviously not a death sentence these days and infected people can lead a nearly normal life. But Charlie is gross for not disclosing his status to some partners
That was the impression I got. Nowhere did it sound like you implied his diagnosis made him worse. He already was a garbage person and its amazing anyone slept with him anyway.
Sheen is gross. Still, women would sleep with him for their own momentary lapse in judgements. Believing attachment would bring drugs or attention or comfort in some form.
Maybe having this information known they would think twice.
For 1 there is an undeniable stigma.
2 it might be enough for some to reevaluate their choices factoring in the possibility of health.
I didn’t read Audrey’s comment as anything else. Sheen is gross. This hasn’t changed that IMO. If anything this is a hot button issue and people can read too much into simple statements.
End of.
I understood what you said. Just stick to what you said and don’t respond anymore. All the people asking you to clarify and “shed a little light” on what you meant need to get bent. Dragging this person so you can take them out of the ”offensive” category.
OH here we go….does every comment have to be dissected and graded for political correctness? It’s a ‘bitchy’ site can we be bitchy without somebody in here clutching at their pearls?? Audry’s is correct. He’s gross. Period.
+1
Haha yes thank you..
+1 yep
X 1,000
+1000
Yeah right! People around here love to find excuses to get their panties in a twist.
I know what you mean. Before the news broke I was watching. Anger Management were he was in bed with this young lady.
I was thinking how gross he was because of his past behavior towards his wives and girlfriends. Then I thought about the goddess circle and how he was so busy with them he couldn’t be bothered to take care of his twin boy while the mom is going through rehab.
He’s was repulsive long before this news hit.
People have sex with gross people all the time. We all make mistakes, sometimes the same one repeatedly.
To me it rather sounds like the assistant might have caught it herself and couldn’t handle it.
That’s what crawled out of my mind too. Like ex-assistant now dead got HIV from him. How did she die?
No. The dead ex assistant is/was Rick Calamaro. Reports were he was found surrounded by drugs, so it’s assumed he died of a drug overdose.
I know people joke about Saint Angie here, but f that. Saint Denise!
I really think so. My feeling is, she got a good (and deserved) divorce settlement and child support and since Sheen has been blowing through his money (literally and figuratively) he tries to go back on that settlement whenever he can. I hope, for his kids’ sake, that she took the bulk of his fortune, now that it’s clear he’s going to be paying it out in lawsuits and hush money.
That was my first thought.
Me too.
He’s lucky. Can you imagine him being married to one of those Housewives. Brandy G would have destroyed him.
I don’t know many women willing to look after the twins from another marriage and try to get them help when they had emotional problems. And lets not forget Brooke refused to let them go to counseling.
oh yes! denise could have blackmailed him from here to the moon and she chose not to. she didnt expose him. not even after he kicked her out of the house. that alone makes her a saint.
ITA, Charlie treated her like crap and it’s clear her first priority were the kids. I have a lot of respect for her.
Denise has been such a strong women through all Charlie has thrown her way. She has stepped up for the kids and never looked back. Charlie and the kids are lick to have her in their lives.
I continue to be impressed with her and how she’s handled this whole situation. Poor woman, it can’t be easy to be tied to this disgusting, hedonistic man forever. I’m happy to hear she and her children aren’t infected.
Bree isn’t in the clear yet. Unless it’s been changed due to new information, HIV can live in the body for up to 10 years without showing up on tests. She still needs to be tested and still needs prayers, imo.
He is a selfish pig and I think we haven’t heard the last of this.
You’re confusing it with HPV.
“HIV can live in the body for up to 10 years without showing up on tests”. I thought it was three months. But yeah, he is a selfish pig.
HIV may show no symptoms and not progress for 10 years, but it will show up on a blood test 4-10 weeks after infection. Still amazing after all these decades the misinformation that is out there. Bottom line wrap it up, and ask your partner for their blood test result.
Amen on the blood test results. I insist on – – and provide – – dated receipts for the full panel of tests. This doesn’t just happen to people who live like Charlie Sheen. You can’t be too careful. I think the blood test thing should be a more standard part of dating. In Miami, there are places you can go and just walk in, get a full panel of tests, get the receipts. There should be more places like that, so even if you’re someone without a regular doctor or health insurance or whatever, you can get it done, have the receipts. Get the receipts!!
Luckily HIV/AIDS is not a death sentence any more if caught early and the person is put on treatment.
The disease also cannot be transmitted to others when someone is on effective treatment, effective meaning viral levels so low that they are undetectable. Treatment, in other words, is prevention. And thus it is safe to have sexual relations with someone on effective HIV/AIDS treatment.
Charlie Sheen’s doctor confirmed he has been on treatment and his viral load is undetectable since he was diagnosed. This means the people who had intercourse with him since that time are not at risk.
He had a duty to disclose his status to all potential partners. Scottine was just on Howard Stern and confirmed that he never told her. That’s the immoral part.
And an undetectable viral load does not make transmission impossible – it makes it highly unlikely. So while the risk may have been very low, he still placed partners at risk. Scottine also said that when he used condoms, they were lambskin (effective against pregnancy, not against HIV).
It’s not about how much a risk he placed any individual woman at. It’s that 1.) he did not disclose, and 2.) even if he did, if he used ineffective condoms, he effectively deceived them into a false sense of security. Both of those are deeply troubling.
@Sam, no. You don’t have to disclose your HIV status to everyone you are having sex with as long as you have protected sex. If your viral load is undetectable due to medication, you already have close to 0% chance of transmitting the virus during unprotected sex, so even if you wrap it up and the condom breaks, you should not infect your partner(s). You should definitely let your partner know if you want to have an unprotected relation (otherwise you expose yourself to being sued in many states and countries), and it would be nice to be able to have this conversation before anything happens, but let’s face it, it is pretty much impossible.
In rich, developed countries, HIV is something you will likely carry all your life but won’t die from anymore, which means that people will live with the virus for decades and you cannot expect infected individuals not to have a sex life. Unfortunately, the stigmas from having HIV are still strong, you can see it in the threads, thus many infected people won’t feel like disclosing their status to every potential partner because of the risks of being shunned or worst. Actually this is one of the reasons why people that might have been exposed fear getting tested, they rather not know than fear the rejection. If someone is closely followed by a MD, respects its medication schedule and uses a condom, there is no need for this person to disclose its status to every hookups and short-term partner because that person won’t transmit the virus.
@arpeggi sorry but no if you have any sexually transmitted disease you are morally obligated to disclose that information to anyone you engage in sexual activity with especially HIV. A person doesn’t have the right to take the choice away from someone of whether they want to risk their health and life. Stigma or not people have a right to have full knowledge of what they are getting into. Anything less is immoral, dangerous and vile.
Arpeggi –
Are you for f*cking real? Absolutely, you need to be upfront with your partner about what they’re getting into, ESPECIALLY with something as potentially dangerous as HIV. Or for that matter, ANY STD, particularly if your partners are female and less likely to exhibit external symptoms, meaning that they can go years without diagnosis. You don’t have to share that information with the general public, but you have a moral responsibility to share it with people who may be directly impacted by it. JFC, this bullshit is why I require all of my partners to be newly tested along with me when we enter that stage of the relationship.
Superficial: Denise was and is waaaaay too radiantly beautiful for this cracked-out goblin.
So glad neither she or her children have to deal with HIV in addition to all the hell he’s put them through. He’s a nasty human being, disease or no disease.
When I first heard this news, my thoughts immediately went to her youngest daughter. Weren’t there rumors a few years back that she was the product of one of Charlie’s many careless incidents, and that Denise adopted her to raise with her sisters? While it made me admire her at the time (and it still would), I hope now that it’s not true.
Why would you hope it’s untrue? If she is Charlie’s biological daughter, all the better for her to be raised with her siblings.
@Betsy, I think what @Mixtape is saying is that she hopes Charlie didn’t conceive any children after contracting HIV.
That’s where my mind immediately went when I read the (carefully worded) statement above that neither she nor her older two daughters are infected. I can see her continuing to keep quiet about her youngest’ paternity in the face of all of this (if she’s actually Charlie’s daughter). She seems very committed to her kids and concealing this would be in the kids best interest, again if true.
I just don’t get it. This whole thing is disgusting. He didn’t confess because it was the right thing to do. He did it because he wanted to stop bleeding black mail money. How many women did he infect? How dare he call Denise all those names every time he didn’t get his way. Yet he has essentially playing russian roulette with multiple womans lives.
Like a child throwing a tantrum this man needs a time out. I hope he experiences the backlash and law suits he deserves. He is not a good person and should face prison time for what he’s done.
Everybody gets on me for reading the blinds and having any faith in them but they regularly hang out celeb’s dirty laundry spot on and this was one of them. They say there are easily 50 porn stars he’s been with since he was diagnosed and he did NOT inform them of his diagnosis. Not just 50 times or incidents, but 50 women he used over and over. The law suits are going to start rolling in and there’s no way he’s going to be able to buy them all off.
You do know this was leak from the Sony hacked and not some blind item right.
I was going to say the same thing: this info was mentioned in the Sony hack.
And even though Blind Gossip and CDAN get something correct every once in a blue moon, that still doesn’t make them good sources. You know what they say – even a broken clock is right twice a day.
I agree totally – he is and always was a complete POS. Denise is a saint.
Say what you will about Denise, but she has shown herself time and again to be an honorable woman.
I’m with you. She seems like a great daughter to her father and a wonderful mother to her daughters. If Charlie would have only come clean four years ago it would have saved him million of dollars and he may not have skidded off the rails so bad. People with HIV have long lives now, it is not the death sentence it was in the 80’s.
I believe it. There were some pretty nasty allegations thrown around when he and Denise divorced, and while she’s stuck with him as the father of her children and managed to carve out an occasionally decent relationship, she knows who he is. The abuse, the child porn (allegedly), the drugs – I would think that would have been enough to seal Denise’s vagina shut for the rest of her life.
Could you imagine how terrifying it would be to have your crazy, drug addled father of your children diagnosed with HIV? Is he the kind of guy you could count on to keep your kids safe and take proper measures not to expose them? No wonder she refused to give him unsupervised visitation.
Child porn? As if I needed another reason to hate him…
yeah … wtf? where are you getting that from?
Yes Kitten, when Denise filed for divorce she stated that she had found pics of underage girls and boys on his comp. She was of course instantly declared the Internets Public Enemy No. 1. Some weird consensus was struck that she was an untalented actress, a former Heidi Floss prostitute, not really beautiful at all and obviously a gold digger. In other words, she got a taste of what happens when you speak up about a favored celebrity.
Oh she got raked over the coals. FWIW I think Lainey still has her listed as a “working girl” on her FAQ page.
@Naya-That’s disgusting. I remember when all that stuff went down because I automatically sided with Denise (I would side with anyone over Sheen) but I didn’t remember the child pr0n accusations. Gross.
You guys don’t remember that? She claimed that she found him looking at child porn (I’m sorry, “visited pornographic websites featuring young men and girls that appeared underage”) when they were divorcing. But it got buried because he was at that point doing 2 and a half men and was actually pretty powerful at the time. It was in a sworn declaration filed in their divorce proceedings.
mimif, laineys faq is way way out of date. I dont think she even remembers this oart of her site exists. But she def. used to be a mean girl back in the beginning stages of her blogging career. Kinda still is, just bites her tongue more I guess.
I thought at this point it’s generally accepted as fact that Denise was a Fleiss girl? It clearly doesn’t make her a bad person, and it’s not like she was the only one. Denise was kind of sketchy for a long time (remember the Sambora years?), but when sh*t really hit the fan she showed what she’s really made of and I think she’s earned a lot of respect for that.
And we’re all kind of mean girls here.
mmif just another reason why I have never liked Lainey and don’t pay attention to her. How dare she still list Denise as a working girl. What a b.
There are blinds that insinuate he was the guy that molested Corey Haim on the set of Lucas. Corey Feldman also insinuated it but never said Charlie’s name. It’s all much more believable now.
now that you know he’s positive? how so?
Not speaking for Whatwhatnot but the reason people dismissed the Corey allegations was because Charlie was believed to have very singular tastes (blond adult women preferably in the sex industry). But mulitiple outlets are now reporting that Charlie occassionally also slept with male sex workers. Plus we know from Denise that he also had an interest in underaged people. So The Corey claims are suddenly a lot more credible.
This is what’s getting me. How are people assuming that we’re criticising Charlie because he’s HIV positive? HIV doesn’t make him dirty or a potential child molester. The fact that he’s Charlie Sheen does.
And I believe it. Charlie gets off on dominating the vulnerable.
+1 Bridget. Bout to preface all my posts with an asterisk just so people know this has zero to do with the fact that he’s HIV+, and 100% that he’s a vile human being.
Oh God, I hope not. I read Corey Feldman’s book and the molestation allegations and how it destroyed the other Corey. It was heartbreaking. If Charlie did that and everything else he’s accused of, may he rot in hell.
Tragic. Corey Haim has been speaking out for years, but no one believed him. I never liked the movie Lucas, but I had such a huge crush on Sheen from that film. To this day, I remember the scene of him leaning against the washing machine shirtless. To know that film is where he could have potentially molested someone is sick.
Child porn? Oh god I hope this is not true. Reading these posts has left me sick to my stomach. I don’t even know where to start with how deeply disturbing this man is. First, Denise really is made of tough stuff and saying I admire her feels like an understatement. Second, no way he informed his partners of *anything*. Can he even remember the last four years, beyond bits and pieces of lucidity between drug binges? Impossible. Third, in four years (and I’m guessing its been longer), we are talking *hundreds* of women he may of infected. And fourth….compliance to his antiviral medications? No way. No f*ing way. Does Charlie know what day it is during crack binges, much less the time? And now child porn? God this man is a blight. Just a horrible, awful, dangerous person. And he is a father…..exscuse me while i go throw up.
OMG me too.
Physically nauseous. I also feel really out of the gossip loop because a lot of this is news to me. I’ve always just despised him for the misogynist/terrible father/disgusting human being part. The bar was already set so f*cking low….
When you stop to really consider the lifestyle he has maintained over the many many years, even before this piece of the pie dropped, it really makes you wonder how this guy is still alive. It’s like the Nine Lives of Charlie Sheen Show.
His and Denise’s divorce was ugly. At the time he’d supposedly cleaned up his act and 2.5 Men was hugely successful. Not only was there a lot at stake for him, but we also now know how much Sheen likes to go on the attack against any woman that dare criticize him. Don’t forget, Sheen CHOOSES women as his partners that he can eventually discredit – porn stars, sex workers, even Denise had a sketchy past (but a shiny Hollywood veneer). Denise got railroaded in that divorce, nevermind the fact that something was bad enough that she left him 7 months pregnant.
If it involved people who “looked underage”, I doubt that it was child porn. Teenage porn maybe, although looking younger than you are is considered an asset in such things. Still not anything Denise would want around her kids.
That’s what I was thinking – that HIV and AIDS are not easily transmissible, but that I wouldn’t trust Sheen not to do something catastrophically stupid.
It isn’t that any of us are trying to imply that the HIV makes him dirty. It’s the fact that with his very serious substance abuse issues and the fact that he isn’t exactly risk-averse (to put it nicely) I wouldn’t trust him to be particularly careful about not exposing people to the virus. Not to mention the fact that he seems to get off on hurting vulnerable women (sex workers, porn stars).
@ Bridget – ? That’s what I just said.
Just elaborating.
I’m happy for Denise and the girls.
I respect her very much.
same, she’s always come across as very classy despite all the horrible things Charlie has said or done.
Ditto. She’s someone with her priorities straight and her boundaries rock-solid. She is a good person taking good care of her children, regardless of how provoking Charlie is.
And doing it all without her mother still alive. Thankfully she still has her father.
Her and the Kids are the people that need to come out of this Unscathed, unbothered and left alone
+1,000,000
Exactly!!!!
That’s all, folks.
Denise Richards probably merits sainthood not just for patience, but for the insane amount of restraint she has shown for years. Charlie has put her through so much crap and she’s probably known so much. She could have effectively ended his career if she had been so inclined, and she’s kept a lot to herself.
She’s been very tough with him as well and won’t be intimidated by his BS.
She really does set a good example of how to stand up to your once sexy bad-boy lover for the sake of your kids. Wish more ladies had her back bone.
Way back when, when everyone was trashing Denise and believing Charlie I never did for one moment. I ALWAYS believed Denise. It made me so mad how people trash talked her just because he was making the big bucks. When the truth started coming out about him, I was HA HA HA HA HA Loving It. Denise is the WINNER.
I never did either. I was so baffled given that Charlie who already had a long history of drugs, donestic abuse, crazy behavior and sexual deviancy was getting the benefit of the doubt. I remember that was the first time I got a serious sense of misogyny at play in celebrity reporting.
Another factor is the women he chooses. Charlie Sheen chooses women with a shady past *at best*. Even Denise, the most Hollywood of his exes, allegedly has a past of her own. So when things inevitably go sour, he can discredit these women as “scum”. He’s intentionally preying on vulnerable women.
Exactly, Bridget. And probably makes them feel as if they owe him.
didnt charlie make up denise’s alleged past though? she didnt have an alleged past until their divorce, correct me if im wrong. i think he made every detail up.
Well… it probably wasn’t made up. But I also don’t think it’s something shameful.
Never believed it either. I could see what kind of guy he was by the way he acted. It’s not like it was hard to tell who the childish idiot was in the relationship.
I ALWAYS believed Denise too. Just because young adults make a couple poor choices when they are very young doesn’t make them any different than anyone else. We all did.
Only 4 women? That seems kind of low or is it 4 women who agreed to talk?
Yeah, I have some serious problems believing that’s the extent of it, but the article also says he was with over 50 porn stars without disclosing. I’d say hundreds is more likely, because the guy is totally out of control.
“The guy is totally out of control.”
This. This much is painfully clear. IF (and that’s a big if, I’m not accusing anyone of anything that serious without concrete proof) he did knowingly infect anyone, the man belongs in prison.
I wish I could say I was shocked, but the reality is that he’s always been a piece of sh*t and always will be. Fortunately for his victims, we’re at the point where HIV is a disease that can be decently controlled with medication regimens. I hope they’re all safe, and if not, that they get the help they need.
Denise has handled the situation with Charlie with dignity for years. She has tried really hard to raise her kids in a safe environment. She has even tried to help the Charlie’s kids with Brooke. Meanwhile, he trashed her in the press for years because he is a terrible man. And even after all of that she never outed his diagnosis.
+1. Especially the part about taking care of his kids with Brooke — that was way beyond the call and she obviously did it because she cared about the kids.
She has shown a great deal of restraint.
HIV cannot be shared through casual contact. There has never been a case of HIV being shared within normal family/friend contact.
It is transmitted through sexual contact, sharing needles, and sometimes from mother to child but there are now medications that can prevent that. Most people with HIV live with an undetectable viral load, meaning it is nearly impossible to share even through blood or sexual contact. They are expected to have average life spans and have normal lives although they’ll need to be on medication.
It’s generally considered easier to manage than diabetes or hepatitis.
That’s a slight myth. Here’s the actual truth: HIV is manageable, but it takes a lot of medications, constant monitoring and a commitment to leading a healthy lifestyle. Not all people with HIV can do these things.
HIV meds are super expensive. If you are not insured or under insured, you will struggle to get them. There is a huge problem with getting HIV drugs to the people who need them. The poor still die of AIDS.
Even with meds, treatment can suck. HIV patients have to constantly be concerned about their immunity. There are constant side effects to many of these meds. It’s not a cake walk. There is always a concern that the virus can mutate inside you, making your current drug regime ineffective. You must be constantly monitored, with takes time, energy and money.
It impacts your life. You are suppose to disclose it to every single potential partner. There are people who will not want to take that risk and thus, relationships with those people are off-limits. There are jobs that are off-limits to you. Having children will become harder.
So please, while I get why you’re saying this stuff, NO, HIV is not “easier than diabetes.” That statement is dangerous. HIV should still be considered a dangerous, life-changing disease. We can fight anti-HIV stigma without minimizing the seriousness of it and encouraging people to take every precaution.
Obviously it’s not bunnies and sunshine but it really isn’t a huge deal. Meds aren’t expensive and if you can’t afford them there are a ton of programs to help.
Source : HIV positive
I’m not commenting on your personal status. But you should be aware that you can’t speak for everybody with HIV. I’m a sexual health educator who attends conferences and classes fairly routinely. And there are PLENTY of people with HIV who don’t have access to insurance or free programs. The biggest pockets of at risk people with HIV are the dirt poor. People living in slums, ghettos and isolated rural areas – very often without access to the internet or even phones. How exactly are those people suppose to get all those lovely free meds? (Hint: they don’t). Then you need to consider that it’s estimated that over 10% all people with HIV do NOT know they even have it. So…how does that work for them?
What you’re spreading is dangerous information. HIV is not, and never will be, comparable to diabetes. It upends lives (maybe not yours, but you seem to not get that you can only speak for yourself). And even WITH meds, there is the constant risk of mutation. And if there were to occur, all those meds? They’re useless. It’s a constantly present danger that is rarely addressed.
Thanks Sam for your thorough explanation. It’s just what’s needed to counter the misinformation and minimization going around. I can’t speak for anyone who has it and would certainly never try to minimize anyone’s experience with it.
I’m a former community health clinic worker which I did for 10 years, and I’m still learning more about HIV each day. So much research progress and scientific advances have been made, but keeping up to date on the latest info remains an issue.
Also getting meds to those with HIV who are poor, underinsured or uninsured, and/or live in resource-poor areas remains a huge issue worldwide.
It’s a serious illness that no one deserves to be discriminated against for having. And as you eloquently stated earlier, we can still combat anti-HIV stigma without minimizing its effects.
@sam – you are absolutely correct. So many people I know think that HIV is comparable to something like diabetes and its so not. People dont get that the virus does mutate and that medication is unbelievably expensive. Not everyone has access to drs, medication, nor money like magic johnson.
Plenty of people got rid of diabetes 2 by going vegan and losing weight as a result. As in, they’re cured, it’s gone, no meds needed. Not exactly possible with hiv.
Diabetes can only be cured by gastric bypass surgery (Type II). A person might learn to manage it really well and come off medications but it is not cured. A diabetic person will forever have an increased risk of stroke and heart disease because they metabolize starches differently than the rest of the population. Weight management and exercise are very important but not cures for diabetes.
Really, every a Type 2 diabetic gets cured by going vegan? I highly, highly doubt that. Now if you’d said “many” “early in their diagnosis” “along with exercise, which is known to reduce blood sugar,” sure, that squares with more of what I’ve read.
There is no absolute cure for Type II diabetes. The cause and severity of the disease vary dramatically based on genetic, health, and lifestyle factors. Some people develop it due to weight gain. Some people have pancreatic damage later in life. Some have dysfunctional cell signaling or proteins. Some have cancer. Some are idiopathic.
Even those with well controlled, non-medicated pre-diabetes with healthy lifestyles are still at risk for many of the complications simply because their body cannot optimally store and process sugars. The leftover particles crystallize in the bloodstream, which is why so many wind up with kidney and heart damage in the long run. This has the possibility of happening any time you eat carbs, which is impossible to avoid because you need carbs to survive. High protein diets are one option, but they come with significant risk of ketoidacidosis. I’m not suggesting healthy living won’t significantly contribute to better living with diabetes, but it won’t “cure” it. It’s a condition that must be managed and always has the potential to return under the right circumstances.
So, I would agree with Kait to the extent that diabetes may be a larger issue worldwide because it’s more common and more variable in terms of its treatment.
“It’s generally considered easier to manage than diabetes or hepatitis. ”
This comment is understating the seriousness of HIV. There are highly reliable anti viral meds that are fairly cheap for hepatitis B (and a cure probably within the next five years) – not to mention most people that have it won’t ever get sick – and hep C is curable in most cases now, if you catch it early I believe. I have to admit diabetes is hard to manage with the diet and the insulin and constantly monitoring everything but it’s nowhere as serious as HIV. HIV drugs are costly, very costly.
I got accidently pricked by a needle during my ER rotation and per protocol they put me on retrovirals until all the test came back, you guys I have never felt so sick in my life!!! Diarrea, cramps, fever, nausea it was bad! And I only took them for 2 weeks and we got the all clear
I wouldn’t necessarily call it easily manageable – it takes a rigorous and ongoing regimen of anti-viral drugs to keep it in remission. Which can be expensive. Very, very expensive for people without proper insurance or education. Which is part of the reason why HIV is one of the biggest global killers, particularly in areas with limited medical infrastructure. The retrovirals used for post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) are also pretty nasty and come with a whole host of miserable side effects – it also has to be started within 72 hours of exposure. Yes, the viral load is much higher in blood than in genital or anal fluids, but the infectious dose is also decently low, so one occasion of transmission is enough to infect.
I don’t believe in HIV stigma. It’s a disease that can be controlled with available medications. We’ve come a long way since the “hush hush” culture of the 70s and 80s. I don’t, however, believe in downplaying the potential severity of the illness. Regardless of it’s well controlled or not, it still changes an individual’s life.
My admiration for Denise Richards grows with every Charlie Sheen story I read.
+1
Good lord. I don’t think I could be so adult with an ex like that.
I wonder how Lindsey Lohan is taking this ?! I’m pretty sure she slept with him! And I wouldn’t doubt for a second she is one of the “former friends” who were asking for money to keep quiet!.
You assume alot when you assume Lindsay is HIV –
She didn’t actually say that Lindsey is positive.
She is a good woman — bless her for getting out when she did.
Isn’t Charlie the biological father of Eloise the little girl that Denise adopted?
That’s the rumour.
Denise Richards is right up there with Ivana Trump when it comes to seemingly gold-digging ex wives who actually turn out to be saints.
Random comment: I just read about Trump deeply regretting divorcing Ivana to marry Marla (which didn’t last anyway).
I just watched the interview. I think he is a lying liar made of lies. First he said he disclosed his status and made the buildup to his dr coming on sound like he was going to reveal how its possible that he had unprotected sex without there being ANY chance of the partner contracting the virus.
Then..when he though we might forget his exact wording, he contradicted himself and said that he meant to say that the sex was protected after all, but still asserts he had unprotected sex. This interview may have made the CHOSEN circle of vultures miss out on their payout outing his secret, but I see some backlash coming in the form of prostitutes that didnt in fact know he was HIV postive.
Also, the question about how far down the road he was in reference to his drug abuse, that was dodgy as well. How again did he work the conversation to end up with the word philanthropic???
Denise is awesome. She really, really is. Thank goodness her daughters (and Brooke’s boys) have had her around to offset all the other madness in their lives.
He had the world at his feet, and although I agree there is nothing good to say about him, it is sad that he became so horribly addicted to alcohol, drugs, sex, etc. I used to love him on Two and a Half Men, he was great.
If only he’d cleaned up his act while he was with Denise, she was – and is – good for him. She deserves so much respect for showing respect to herself and yes, to the man who does not deserve her respect.
Sad story all round, very sad for the kids especially, with all the stories about him.
what is UP w/ all the Denise worship?
She’s endured alot (no argument there).
and she’s been discreet (lord knows).
but Denise wants the cash just like all the rest of them!
is she entitles to child support – of course she is…
but she’s measured her game for the money too.
come ON.
so do lots of others and they are not as good as it as she is. she also took care of his other kids which she didnt have to do.
its also about how the man is seen in the publics opinion, its not like anyone sane would side with him. if she had been with a generally liked guy it would look different.
You mean she wants the child support and divorce settlement the law agreed she was entitled to? That’s not “measuring one’s game for the money.” Whatever exactly that means.
She was offered a lot more money by Charlie to look after his twins by Brooke Mueller, and she refused the money but took the boys anyway, because she didn’t want to muddy the waters when she spoke about their welfare. They were seriously disturbed toddlers and she brought them in to her home and her life because they needed someone sane to care for them.
I don’t see how anyone can claim Denise is money driven, after that.
^This.
I agree that Denise Richards seems like a good mother and a family person, but I can never totally like her, because she was willingly with Charlie Sheen for years. Partnerships where one is an angel and the other a monster aren’t very realistic. Denise and Charlie must’ve had some opinions, values and interests in common in order to coexist.
Charlie was sober when she married him.
I honestly can’t imagine an adult Charlie Sheen who’s sober in any meaningful sense of the word. Not drinking on weekdays before lunch, maybe. Only the occasional, secretive recreational bit of this and that, maybe.
Still, even if that was the case, she married a man who has a terrible personality. He’s selfish, eccentric, arrogant, crude, sexist – it just goes on and on. She simply had to have had some idea about his character, but she wasn’t put off by it. That makes me suspicious about how well we really know her.
Sober Charlie was not a blatant douchebag. There are even stories from that period when he went out of his way to rescue other addicts. Tom Sizemore has a very touching story of how Charlie literally camped in his backyard for days trying to get him to rehab. I’m sure by the time the physical abuse began, Denise like most DV victims was already deep in there. And lets not forget, she didnt stay long after the sobriety slipped. She left in the late stages of her pregnancy at that.
Charlie is a strange one. He has a track record of being an abusive piece of shit, but he ALSO has a track record of being extraordinarily generous and gregarious.
When he and Denise were still co-parenting in a healthy way, Denise reported Charlie could be a great dad and a great ex. Then he decided Denise was the devil and it’s been scorched earth ever since.
With Charlie Sheen, he’s either a delightful guy or an utter monster. When he was sober, maybe he was more delightful than dangerous.
Or maybe he’s just a classic abuser in the sense that he uses his charisma to manipulate/control others.
Exactly Kitten! I think he’s a sociopath…whom are often very charitable IF (and only if) it will reflect positively on them or improve their reputation. They have no empathy and could care less about others. However, many sociopaths will take care of their children only because not doing so would reflect badly on them. They cannot love. I believe this fits Charlie to a ‘T’.
Can’t believe I had to scroll 3/4ths of the way through the comments before finding someone else who doesn’t worship at the altar of Saint Denise. Why is she constantly being canonised? Water seeks its own level. She willingly marries this “man,” and chose him as the father of her children. And she was no wide eyed innocent–she was in her thirties when they got married!
Having known a few addicts, they can be charming. I know for a fact that many of their closest friends and family members still do not even know about their addictions to alcohol, drugs, sex, you name it….
Addicts are charming people when they want to be, that’s how they get by. They are also abusive, definitely emotionally & psychologically, possibly physically. Anyone in a relationship with an addict is in an abusive relationship, which messes the non-addict up in a way they don’t realize & their loved ones don’t see.
Addicts are professional manipulators. Let’s not blame Denise for falling for it.
Having been with a normie drug user (who could stop during the week) but who also procured and sold, yeah they can be woefully charming. It takes a lot to go no contact with someone like that. But I suppose if those reading this have never been there it’s hard to wrap your mind around it.
She has really bad taste in men. She likes the bad boys.
Didn’t a lot of us. That’s not a crime. It’s part of life for many women – and men.
I dated an addict for a very long time, without using drugs or alcohol myself. It’s probably more common than you’re thinking it is.
I stayed (and I assume Denise as well) for various reasons. Love being one of them.
^Exactly. He never did the drugs around me.
Yes, I had a ‘not around me’ agreement with one. Another stopped drinking… years later I found out he had habits that I did not know about, drugs and sex addiction.
I loved both with all my heart. And, I learned that one of the reasons I stayed is that the constant ups/downs of a relationship with an addict conditions you to wait for the next good time, and wait out the bad times. It’s hope, and desperation, wrapped up with love.
With all the secrets addicts keep, it’s hard to truly know them….so I really only loved a small part of them that they shared.
Charlie Sheen needs to be arrested, have a jury trial, and go to prison. He knowingly exposed hundreds if not thousands of people to a deadly disease. Just think about this, he had unprotected sex with possibly hundreds of women over the past few years. Many of these women are in the porn industry and other sex trades as escorts and prostitutes. They in turn, have sex with other people in the porn business and the escorts and prostitures have sex with many of their clients, such as, …..your husband. Do you see where I am going with this? How many people Charlie Sheen exposed to HIV? Not just his direct sexual contacts, but potentially many others down the line.
yup, agreed.
Prison would be the best thing that ever happened to that guy. He desperately needs it and deserves it IMO.
Yes, Prison if for no other reason than he would be (mostly) sober in prison. Except when they get through, which I’m guessing they often do.
he has always treated her terribly and she took in his other wifes children, i dont want to imagine if on top of that he had infected her. happy for her.
One day they will have determined the gene or the faulty brain chemistry that is responsible for addiction. Not that there isn’t a personal responsibility component in that people need to seek help. Charlie seems especially willful. But not that many people actually recover. Look at the stats that mortality is increasing for people 45 to 54 due to drugs and suicides. Charlie is one among so many. All you can do, which is what his family seems to have done, is love the person, hate the disease. Hopefully there will be a cure not only for HIV, but addiction. Miracles happen; they have a cure for Hep C.
I agree genetics leading to some hormonal or chemical imblanace probably plays a role. Martin Sheen is closer to Charlie because they’re both prone to addiction for some reason. You know those people that just need to have a drink every so many hours. It’s chemical.
I always loved Denise, even when all that crap came out in 2005 about Sheen physically abusing her and her being trashed in the news. I remember her leaving him at 6 months pregnant and how badly he treated her then. Sheen was vile to her at that time and it only got worse in the press.
Denise was amazing to not only not talk bad about him publically, but keep their two daughters out of it. She took care of his twins from Mueller; who also trashed her in the press; when Mueller was in rehab etc. Name me one ex-wife who voluntarily takes care of the current wives’ children, so the mom can attend rehab? I cannot name one.
There was also a strong rumor that the little girl Denise adopted was another one of Sheen’s children from a prostitute that he was sleeping with and got pregnant. The woman didn’t want the baby and Sheen asked Denise and she adopted the child. That’s why Sheen was always helping with the little girl. It was his. I wish I knew the link, but the information was around at that time.
I give Richards huge props for being a strong woman and mother.
“Denise was amazing to not only not talk bad about him publically”
I agree, but she also did it for safety reasons. Thugs and all. 😉
If Charlie discovered he had the virus four years ago, then he don’t know how long the Virus was in his body before the symptoms appeared.
Denise will only be cleared ten years after being intimate with Charlie.
The virus can stay dormant for years.
That is not true the virus does not stay dormant for years.I am amazed by the misinformation about HIV as we approach 2016.
An HIV test will detect 95 percent of infections 28 days after exposure.It will detect 99.99 percent of infections three months after exposure.False negatives are extremely rare with the current HIV tests
It may take ten years for the AIDS virus to manifest it self.
So how how many years it was before Charlie knew he had AIDS, and all those women he slept with, will be testing for a while.
@Peggy, please educate yourself about the difference between HIV and AIDS. As Colette said, the HIV virus is detectable 28 days after exposure and nearly 99% three months after exposure. Charlie doesn’t have AIDS according to his doctor, however, he is HIV positive. If Denise has not been intimate with Charlie since 2006 and tested negative, she’s negative.
First time poster. – I think this has been going on for longer than stated. This is damage limitation for Sheen inc. Providing people are cash recompensed for risk, Sheen will get off scott free. In addition if he cleans himself up he could possibly be America’s latest comeback kid. America does love a ressurection story as so to speak. However I suspect usual service will be resumed regarding drugs & alcohol. It is a shame that he is not sectioned for the drug addiction to enable him to have a chance at getting healthier. It is an awful situation for all involved, I sincerely hope the children he has with Brook aren’t infected. This may explain a lot regarding her behaviour. Denise has been an angel all circumstances considered. Charlie has behaved appallingly but I do wish him well. Sounds as though he is staging his own funeral,-watching his own movies on a loop with company he has paid to be there. How terribly sad. It is akin to attending your own funeral, on repeat. He has everything & nothing essentially. –Not forgetting even if two partners are infected safe sex is only option as you can reinfect each other with stronger strains making health situation worse– prayers for all
” hope the children he has with Brook aren’t infected”
Exactly. It’s not like they’re going to be upfront about that if they are. And it’s no one’s business anyway.
Amen. So thankful Denise and the daughters are negative. I believe Denise is smart enough to have her kids in some type of therapy to help them with their father’s mental / medical illnesses. What a messed up story. Don’t Do Drugs, Kids.
Well, Denise saying that she and the girls don’t have it tells you that he’s likely had it for way longer than 4 years ago when it was diagnosed. So who knows how many people he infected before he supposedly knew.
I just read his “open letter”, he is worse trash than I thought. He’s blaming his diagnosis for choosing to hook up with “unsavory and insipid types”. SMH.
And then he talks of the “treason” of people he says used his HIV status to blackmail him…were they blackmailing or was he paying off? It’s a fine line.
He is offended, aggressive, and very self-righteous…excellent hallmarks of an unrepentant addict, and a sociopath. His style of writing is a dead giveaway.
Narcissists think they’re smarter than everyone else. Add addiction into the mix and they’re almost completely clueless. Add wealth and they are very dangerous people. What they don’t get is that most people see through them, esp. as we approach 2016 and the general populace knowing far more about the personality disorder of narcissism, which is not treatable.
sorry, duplicate.
Much love and respect for Denise and her girls
Charlie, just go away. You are bad news.