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Charlie Sheen has finally settled a lawsuit filed by his former partner in 2017, where she claimed that the actor had exposed her to HIV. As per documents obtained by TMZ, Sheen has agreed to pay the woman $120K in $10K installments each month over the next year.
The woman reportedly filed the lawsuit as Jane Doe and initially attempted to cover Sheen’s identity by referring to him as a “confident male defendant.” However, she noted that the person she was suing announced his diagnosis on national TV in November 17, 2015.
The woman claimed to have had unprotected physical intimacy with Charlie Sheen, who did not reveal his diagnosis, and allegedly told her to take pills to prevent the transmission of the virus. She alleged that the Spin City star also asked her to not believe “the convenient rumors of the medical community.”
Reports suggest that Sheen first contracted HIV in 2011 but publicly announced his diagnosis in 2015. Back in 2016, the actor appeared on the Today show and said that he kept his diagnosis hidden from at least two partners but made sure to use protection.
Shortly after, authorities reportedly considered launching an investigation into claims that Sheen had allegedly exposed multiple women to the virus without providing them with any prior warning. According to California law, all individuals diagnosed with a communicable disease are prevented from “wilfully” exposing themselves to others.
In addition to the latest lawsuit, Charlie Sheen’s former fiancée Brett Rossi also sued the actor on similar grounds in 2015. She claimed that Sheen exposed her to the virus and revealed that the pair had been physically intimate at least five times before she found out about his diagnosis.
Rossi also accused Sheen of causing her physical and emotional abuse.
Another one of the actor’s exes, Bree Olson, also said in 2015 that the actor never revealed the status of his disease to her.
What did Charlie Sheen say about his HIV diagnosis?
Charlie Sheen first announced his HIV diagnosis in an exclusive 2015 Today show interview with Matt Lauer. He said at the time:
“It’s a hard three letters to absorb. It’s a turning point in one’s life.”
During the interview, the actor revealed that he was diagnosed with HIV nearly four years ago but did not know how he contracted the virus:
“It started with what I thought was a series of crushing headaches. I thought I had a brain tumor. I thought it was over.”
The Golden Globe Award winner also revealed that even if he opened up about his condition to people he trusted, he paid them up to $10 million to keep his diagnosis "a secret." He said:
“What people forget is that that's money they're taking from my children. I trusted them and they were deep in my inner circle, and I thought they could be helpful. My trust turned to their treason.”
Charlie Sheen further said he decided to make a public announcement to end the extortion efforts and alleged false stories about him:
“I have to put a stop to this onslaught, this barrage of attacks and of sub-truths and very harmful and mercurial stories that are about me, threatening the health of so many others that couldn’t be further from the truth.”
The actor mentioned that it was “impossible” for him to consciously transmit the virus to others. Although he admitted to having unprotected physical relationship with two women since his diagnosis, he claimed that both were “informed” and had been under medical care.
The actor also denied rumors about engaging in high-risk behaviors involving his condition:
“You're talking about needles and that whole mess? No, definitely not.”
In 2016, Charlie Sheen appeared in a live interview with Piers Morgan at London's Theatre Royal Drury Lane and denied claims of having unprotected physical relationships since he tested positive for HIV:
“I never did. Because I wouldn't do that to someone. I would not. How could I explain it later?”
Despite mounting allegations from his previous partners, the actor continued to claim that no individual was infected by him:
“No one has been infected by me. No one.”
Meanwhile, Sheen also admitted that although he refrained from having unprotected relationships since his diagnosis, he did not always tell his partner about his HIV diagnosis:
“The only couple of times I didn't tell somebody was because the last 25 times I'd told somebody, they used it against me, and they used my medical condition for their own folly and financial gain.”
Charlie Sheen further opened up about his diagnosis during a 2017 appearance on Good Morning America, where he told Michael Strahan that he often felt like he was “carrying the torch” for other people diagnosed with the disease:
“I feel like I'm carrying the torch. For a lot of folks out there that are suffering from the same thing.”
He added that he wanted to give up following the diagnosis but refrained from taking any drastic steps:
“The day I was diagnosed, I immediately wanted to eat a bullet. But my mom was there, I wouldn't do that in front of her, or let her find me to clean up that mess.”
The Two and a Half Men alum added that he eventually realized he could continue living with the condition:
“But then, something else came over me. They gave me a handful of pills and said, ‘You can go home now, and you're going to live.’ If I was there with, you know, brain cancer or, or, a stomach thing, or some meningitis, we wouldn't be sitting here right now.”
Charlie Sheen’s treatment reportedly consisted of triple cocktail antiretroviral drugs. In a 2016 episode of The Dr. Oz Show, the actor spoke about being “off [his] meds for about a week” to receive an alternative treatment in Mexico from Sam Chachoua. However, he eventually resumed his medications.
Prior to his latest lawsuit settlement, Sheen was seen running errands in Los Angeles. Earlier this year, he announced that he was set to star in the upcoming TV series Ramble On.
