Charlie Sheen is discussing his experiences with male partners for the first time, nearly ten years after publicly disclosing his HIV status during a television interview.
The star of Two and a Half Men is featured in a new Netflix documentary, aka Charlie Sheen, where he reflects on his journey to stardom and his highly publicized troubles, all while maintaining a seven-year period of sobriety.
The 60-year-old actor shares his life story through his own narrative, with additional insights from his second ex-wife, Denise Richards, acclaimed actor Sean Penn, and comedian Chris Tucker.
The documentary also credits Sheen’s brother Ramon Estevez, his third ex-wife Brooke Mueller, and ‘Hollywood Madam’ Heidi Fleiss, known for the incident where Sheen admitted in court to having procured prostitutes from her. The film is scheduled for release on September 10.
Among other significant revelations, Sheen speaks openly about his same-sex relationships for the first time.
Describing the experience as ‘f****ng liberating’, Sheen explained that his involvement with drugs and sexual encounters with men were initially interconnected.
“I flipped the menu over,” he remarked in both the Netflix special and his new autobiography, The Book of Sheen.
Addressing how it feels to discuss his same-sex experiences publicly for the first time, Sheen commented: “Liberating. It’s f***ing liberating … [to] just talk about stuff. It’s like a train didn’t come through the side of the restaurant. A f***ing piano didn’t fall out of the sky. No one ran into the room and shot me.”
The actor mentioned that his exploration into same-sex relations began when he started using crack cocaine.
“That’s where it was born, or sparked. And in whatever chunks of time that I was off the pipe, trying to navigate that, trying to come to terms with it — ‘Where did that come from?…Why did that happen? — and then just finally being like, ‘So what?’ So what? Some of it was weird. A lot of it was f***ing fun, and life goes on.”
Amidst his substance-abusing phase, Sheen contracted HIV, a virus that compromises the immune system and can lead to AIDS if untreated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It’s reported that some who stayed overnight at his residence would see his medication and exploit this information by demanding money from him.
According to People, Sheen initially complied with these demands before publicly announcing his HIV status on the Today show in 2015, thereby stopping further extortion attempts.
Sheen insists that he has never knowingly transmitted the virus to any of his sexual partners.
In an interview with People, the Mad Families star also shared details about his personal relationships.
Sheen, who has experienced three marriages, described his romantic life as ‘uneventful’ for ‘a long time’ to the publication.
“It wasn’t even by choice, but the girls [daughters Sami and Lola Sheen] moved in with their mom [Denise Richards], and then when they moved out, the boys [twins Bob and Max Sheen whom he shares with Mueller] moved in, and there wasn’t enough room in the car,” he explained.
“Plus, I spent so much time and energy chasing that for so long. I had to get to a place where I could be alone, but not lonely.”
He added: “But I am open to love again. Probably not marriage, though!”
Charlie Sheen’s new memoir, The Book of Sheen, is set to be published on September 9.
His documentary, aka Sheen, will be available on Netflix on September 10.