What Charlie Sheen’s Haters Need to Remember in the Wake of His HIV Confession
When I was growing up, Charlie Sheen was one of those movie stars—along with Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez and Tom Cruz—donning the pages of teenie bopper magazines such as Tiger Beat.
Today, he made a shocking announcement that may not be so shocking at all given his lascivious lifestyle.
“I am here to admit that I am in fact HIV positive,” the 50-year-old actor told The Today Show’s Matt Lauer, noting that some people in his inner circle were trying to extort money from him in exchange for hiding the news. “I have to put a stop to this barrage of attacks and sub-truths and very harmful and mercurial stories that are about me that threaten the health of so many others that couldn’t be farther from the truth.”
Charlie told Lauer he was diagnosed about four years ago, which puts the heartbreaking revelation in the 2011 time frame when he was having a public meltdown and was diagnosed as bipolar.
“It started with what I thought was a series of crushing headaches,” he said, recalling he was drenched in sweat at night and hospitalized. “I thought I had a brain tumor. I thought it was over. After a battery of tests and spinal taps, all that crap, they walked in the room and said, ‘Boom. Here’s what’s going on.’ It’s a hard three letters to absorb. It’s a turning point in one’s life.”
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Charlie’s Porn Star Habits
Charlie has had plenty of turning points, ups and downs—mostly downs. He rose to fame for movies such as Red Dawn, Platoon and Wall Street before starring in the hit comedy series Two and a Half Men. He experienced a very public meltdown in 2011 when producers released him from the show after his third attempt at drug rehab in 12 months failed.
Once the highest-paid actor on television, Charlie went up in flames. He filed a lawsuit against Two and a Half Men‘s producer Chuck Lorre and Warner Bros. During that season, he told the world he was a warlock with tiger blood and carried “Adonis DNA.” He posted YouTube videos of himself smoking through his nose and declared he was a rock star from Mars.
Charlie’s personal life was overwhelmed with drama. He accidentally shot his fiancée Kelly Preston in the arm in 1990. She broke off the engagement, and he started dating porn stars such as Ginger Lynn and Heather Hunter before marrying his first wife, Donna Peele, in 1995. Peele divorced him a year later when news emerged that Charlie was a client of Heidi Fleiss, a high-profile escort agency.
Charlie married actress Denise Richards in 2002 and had two daughters with her before she filed for divorce in 2005 with accusations he made violent threats against her. A custody dispute followed, but Charlie didn’t wait long before marrying Brooke Mueller in 2008 and having twin boys.
During that time, Charlie had a cocaine overdose-included stroke that almost killed him. Next, he was arrested for assaulting Mueller and charged with felony menacing, third-degree assault and criminal mischief. His third marriage only lasted until 2010. This time, Charlie filed for divorce. Soon, police took the twins from his custody. That same year, police had to remove him from a room at New York’s Plaza Hotel after he reportedly did $7,000 worth of damage.
By 2011, we find Charlie living with both porn star Bree Olson and a graphic designer Natalie Kenly, whom he dubbed goddesses. Both women left him that same year and Sheen said he was dating porn star Georgia Jones, a Penthouse magazine Pet of the Month. Most recently, he engaged former porn star Brett Ross in 2014 but they reportedly decided to call it quits.
A Romans 6:23 Reality
Charlie’s life demonstrates the reality of the first half of Romans 6:23: “The wages of sin is death.” There’s no arguing that he has lived an especially sinful life. He’s sown to the flesh and he is reaping corruption from the flesh, according to Galatians 6:8. We’re seeing the sin principle manifest in his physical body in extreme form. It’s difficult for me to watch.
But there is redemption available for Charlie. Those who are tempted to say, “He’s getting what he deserves” need to remember that his sins, though more public, are no worse than anyone else’s. Christ paid for them all on when He hung on that tree.
Indeed, there is another half to Romans 6:23 and Galatians 6:8 that Charlie can pursue. The other half of Romans 6:23 reads, “But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” and the other half of Galatians 6:23 reads, “But the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”
I’m praying for Charlie, who was sucked into the Hollywood lifestyle before he was old enough to understand the raging sin that was crouching at his door, will use the spotlight that is on him now to speak against the lifestyle that led him to this moment. I pray that this shocking confession will inspire those who looked up to him to choose a different path.
During the interview, Charlie said his goal was to stop the extortion and said, “I think I release myself from this prison today.” More than anything, I am praying Charlie will seek the gift of God through Jesus and sow to the Spirit. I pray that he will come to the saving knowledge of the truth. I pray Charlie will be truly free from the eternal prison that awaits those who don’t know Christ. I pray that his later years shall be greater than the past and that he will influence for God’s glory in the year ahead.
This is a golden opportunity for the church to demonstrate the kindness of God that leads to repentance. Let’s not throw stones at Charlie. Let’s make intercession for him and the many in Hollywood who were sucked into a vicious cycle that often ends in eternal death.
