Sheen brought HIV shame on himself
Disgraced star is selfishly unrepentant and didn’t tell partners of his status
FORGIVE me for not feeling the love for Charlie Sheen, the Hollywood actor who went on television this week to confess he is HIV-positive.
Although hailed as a hero in some quarters for his candour, Sheen only made his public admission because an American newspaper was about to do the world a favour and expose him.
The hard-living 50-year-old was also being blackmailed and claimed to have paid out millions to those threatening to reveal his HIV status. He wasn’t being noble, he just ran out of options.
He’s a sex addict, he’s a drug addict, he’s the addicts’ addict of choice. He has issues, he’s had tissues, somebody took his dummy when he was 3. And none of it is his fault.
Sheen knew of his diagnosis four years ago – but carried on living his car-crash life, pedal to the metal as he flew down the highway to hell. He’s had three wives, numerous girlfriends and slept with thousands of prostitutes, porn stars and lovers. Financial records appear to show he spent more than £1 million on prostitutes in one year after his diagnosis.
“I always led with condoms and honesty,” he said this week, but many former partners dispute this. One madam said Sheen reputedly paid prostitutes more to have unprotected sex with him – and many willingly did so, hoping to get pregnant by the star.
He is lavish when it comes to excusing his bad choices. “In this difficult time, I dazedly chose companionship of unsavoury and insipid types.”
That’s particularly hateful, suggesting that when it comes to being infected with HIV, somehow the porn stars and random party girls are not as important as the more famous women earlier in his life.
Sheen, known to have injected drugs, does not know how he contracted the disease. He insists it is impossible he passed it on – how can he be sure? At least six women, some who had sex with him last month, claim he did not tell them and plan to sue.
No wonder. His behaviour has been selfish, dangerous, wicked – and illegal in some parts of America where people with HIV may be prosecuted for intentionally or recklessly infecting another. Yet somehow, with PR fancy footwork and a brass neck bigger than the Hubble Telescope, Sheen has positioned himself as a modern-day hero; a casualty, a Cinderella-Rockerfeller party guy whose simple love of a good time was what brought him low.
Putting on his best victim-face, Sheen said he hopes his opening up about his diagnosis will help others feel more comfortable to do the same. “I have a responsibility to better myself and to help a lot of other people, and hopefully with what we’re doing today, others may come forward and say: ‘ Thanks, Charlie. Thanks for kicking the door open.’ “
What a steaming pile of self-serving guff from a man clinging to the tatters of celebrity by his fingertips.
Yet galloping to his rescue came the usual suspects on social media; a cyberarmy of dopey idealists falling over each other to praise Sheen’s “bravery”; a battalion of celeb-bores whose kneejerk liberal reactions failed to reflect the reality of the situation.
Bette Midler urged caution, warning “HIV stigma is not a good look on anyone”. Pop star Lady Gaga salutes Sheen and sees this as an opportunity for all to learn about the “prevention, treatments and emotional intelligence as it relates to the stigma of the virus”.
The exasperating insinuation that any criticism of Sheen heralds a return to the HIV witch-hunts of the 1980s ignores the main reason he has been outed is that he had reportedly been keeping his infection secret from several thousand women. He’s no hero, he is a selfish hedonist who thinks of only his own gratifications at the risk of others, a man who is a disgrace to his children, his ex-wives, his family and himself.
You have to wonder about the women who hooked up with Sheen, who took chances even though his reputation rolled before him like a toxic fog. If he had been living under a bridge instead of being a star, would they still have bedded him?
Meanwhile, nobody is supposed to say anything bad, because HIV can happen to anyone? Right. But if you go outside in winter, without warm clothes, over and over again, eventually you are going to catch a cold.
Sheen may not be the architect of his doom, but he played a part in his destiny. He was blessed with everything – good looks, talent, riches and health – but threw it away and won’t accept any responsibility.
Finding yourself with an HIV diagnosis is bad luck, but in his case it is down to bad living, too. – Daily Mail