Charlie Sheen has given a surprise interview to the magazine that anonymously outed his HIV-positive status and vowed to “exhaust every resource” to eliminate the virus.
The US entertainment site Radar Online published a report in November claiming an unnamed Hollywood actor had been diagnosed with the virus, prompting a frenzy of tabloid speculation that the actor in question was Sheen.
Sheen eventually announced his diagnosis on NBC’s Today show days before the National Enquirer was expected to publish an eight-page story about his diagnosis.
During the interview, Sheen was candid about events that took place in the four years after finding out he had HIV and claimed he had been blackmailed and extorted by people around him who became aware of his diagnosis.
He admitted to being as surprised to be sitting down for the interview as Radar was to conduct it.
“I didn’t think we’d ever be talking again (after Radar reported you were HIV-positive)” Dyan Howard, the chief executive of the National Enquirer and editorial director of Radar, told Sheen. “I didn’t either, to be honest, but here we are,” he responded. “Anything’s possible.
Sheen claimed his reason for deciding to speak with Radar weeks after attempting to get in front of The National Enquirer's story is in order to reach their audience with his experience of being HIV positive.
“I am in a rare position to turn my diagnosis into a positive, and that began with telling my truth to Matt Lauer, and now I’m talking to you and The National Enquirer so that I can reach your audience with my story and continue to shine a light on this disease while brilliant scientists continue to search for a cure,“ he said.
The Two and a Half Men actor describes himself as “sober and focused” after weeks of publicity surrounding his diagnosis and dedicated to finding a cure for the virus.
”I said to my mom, 'This disease picked the wrong guy.' If anybody can fight this thing and discover a cure, it's me. I will exhaust every resource available to me. I will sit with every expert. I will move forward until something's revealed.”
