EDITOR’S NOTE: We’ve updated this story to underline the fact that public health experts are unified in condemning the harmful impact HIV criminalization laws have on combating the virus and the stigma the laws both create and support.
Charlie Sheen has purportedly been hit with an “HIV transmission” lawsuit.
RadarOnline reports that the 51-year-old actor is said to have transmitted HIV to a male partner during sex.
Related: Coming Soon: The Charlie Sheen Gay Sex Tape You Never Wanted To See
How about we take this to the next level?
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Under California law, where Sheen resides, it’s illegal for an HIV-positive person to engage in consensual sex without a condom if there is intent to transmit the virus.
According to the CDC, more than 30 U.S. states have imposed such backward HIV transmission laws, most of which were implemented during the early years of the AIDS crisis and are now not only outdated but stigmatizing and counterproductive. The laws are designed to punish people with HIV rather than educate people about how to protect themselves.
Sheen came out publicly as HIV-positive back in 2015 during an interview with the Today Show. At the time, he said the diagnosis was a “turning point” in his life and claimed that he had paid millions of dollars to blackmailers over the years who had threatened to reveal his status.
Related: The response to Charlie Sheen’s latest HIV infection rumors proves the stigma is alive and well
Donston
Are you really posting articles from RadarOnline? And of course, this person’s identity is being withheld and there’s no lawsuit filed yet because this person likely doesn’t exist. And why refer to him as a “gay” lover instead of male lover? It’s funny how there were no Charlies Sheen gay rumors until he revealed he had AIDS. Also, there was no out of court settled lawsuit from a man who claimed he got herpes from Sheen. That was reported by a random gossip site that has even less credibility than RadarOnline. To state it like it’s a well known fact is a really horrible and irresponsible thing to do.
Sometimes I forget how shameless and trashy this site, and in particular Graham, can be.
DCguy
You have 3 posts on here attacking the credibility of the story and of the other supposed settlement. Where do you get your information, it seems like you are very involved in this one here.
Donston
I’m not “getting my information” anywhere. I’m calling this article out for a lack of information. You can’t just put rumored nonsense out there like it’s reality, especially since there are some people who naively take this site seriously.
This story was reported only by RadarOnline, a gossip site known for throwing random crap out there. No other type of media has reported this supposedly upcoming lawsuit. It’s a rumored “maybe” lawsuit with an unknown plaintiff reported by National Esquire’s lil brother. And there is no known man who settled out of court with Sheen because he gave him herpes. That was as well reported by a singular random gossip site a couple years ago with no proof of an actual suit. To state that bit as if that was a well-known fact is absurd and manipulative.
Donston
Also, the picking and choosing when you want to post rumors is irritating. There are plenty of closeted famous men out there who are well known and widely reported to have male relationships and mostly if not entirely live “gay lifestyles” and there’s legit evidence there. The sensationalism of Sheen giving a dude HIV is the only reason they bothered reporting this unsubstantiated mess.
SactoMan
Sometimes one just gets tired of the unsubstantiated rumors that get posted online and the people that swallow it whole without a single background check. I’ve given up even correcting friends on Facebook that share posts from really horrible sites and then they get a ton of outrage and agreement from their friends. It’s not like they are open to being corrected or would delete a proven erroneous post…
Except for Richard Gere and the Gerbil. That was obviously a “real” bit of gossip…. ha ha ha!
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
“It’s funny how there were no Charlies Sheen gay rumors until he revealed he had AIDS”
I agree it’s a trash site. But wow I can’t believe you missed the two (underaged) Coreys’ rumours
OzJosh
Spot on. The source has no credibility and the story is a disgusting piece of homophobe-baiting. For Queerty to serve it up to gay readers is shameful.
ChrisK
@PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID. When did he reveal he had Aids? This is news to me.
alanballs
Donston: When did Charlie EVER ‘reveal that he has AIDS’? By all accounts, he revealed he was HIV+, and those with an education and a functioning brain know the difference. Millions of people in all 220 countries, are living with HIV……get over it.
geb1966
“It’s funny how there were no Charlies Sheen gay rumors until he revealed he had AIDS”
Maybe because of the hush money he admits that he paid to keep it out of the press??
Donston
I apologize. HIV+ not full blown AIDS (Family Guy reference). Still, there are not reputable sources that have claimed Sheen had sex or relationships with men. It’s not even a widely believed rumor or a persistent one. A couple random gossip sites with zero receipts is all that have said anything. And even then there’s only been a couple articles over the past three years. And no man has ever been known to sue Sheen for giving him an STD.
The article is BS.
stanhope
I completely agree. These sites “report” sensational stories with next to no facts citing as sources other stories with no credible evidence. Shameful.
Paco
How do you prove intent to transmit the virus?
If the story is true and not some payback for being denied blackmail hush money, I would guess that Sheen’s only intent was to get his rocks off while having to hide his status because of stigma and hysteria associated with the virus.
I hope the defense is slowed to investigate and expose the “victim’s” full sexual and testing history. How many condomless hookups, etc…
Donston
There is no lawsuit and there is no man. It’s a “rumored” lawsuit and “rumored” man.
DCguy
The law isn’t about intent. The law basically says something along the lines of, did Sheen know he was HIV positive? If he did, and had sex with that guy, it doesn’t matter if he had intent to transmit, it only matters that he didn’t disclose. If that is proved he could end up in jail.
Heywood Jablowme
@DCguy: “it only matters that he didn’t disclose. If that is proved…”
But how does the legal system really prove THAT? Short of a signed, notarized document – not exactly common prior to casual sex, lol – there’s no way to “prove” such a thing. It’s true though that many people are in prison for this unprovable thing.
pudman56
I’m gay. I’m poz. Somewhere between 1989 and 2004 I became poz. That’s the best time frame because I went that long without being tested. Any one of my NOT several contacts would be how it was transmitted. For years I have been sick and tired of the burden of proof of no wrong doing is put on the person who is poz and no responsibility on the part of the possibly negative person such as asking stranger partner before engaging in sex if they are poz. If the person lies, there is your intent. But once HIV became a much more chronic disease than a fatal diagnosis, the only “blame” should lay at the feet of the person who didn’t bother to inquire, at the very least, as to whether or not the partner was poz or neg. Responsibility works both ways.
Save the drama for a Drag Queen show and man up and accept the fact that you had sex with another man who ended up being poz and could possibly be the source of transmission. OTOH, it could be the guy you were with a couple days earlier, months earlier, even years earlier.
DarkZephyr
“If the person lies, there is your intent.”
Before I became monogamous, I always asked. W/out fail (and always insisted on a condom). Sadly, that is not a guarantee that the person you have sex with is telling the truth. I found out years after the fact that a friend of mine that I had sex with once lied to me about his status and this came out because he was bragging to another man that I knew (but he didn’t know that I knew this man) that he always lied about his status and would even bareback men. I confronted him about it and he admitted the truth to me. Fortunately when I was with him, I insisted on a condom and remain HIV negative. Condoms aren’t fool proof but they work more often than they fail.
SactoMan
A majority of HIV is passed by people that do not know they are positive. Also, a majority of people get it from people they are in a relationship with. That’s why the only way to stop this is for people to go on PrEP. Asking people about their status isn’t going to do it. Using condoms alone isn’t going to do it. And certainly, trusting your partner isn’t going to do it.
Jaroslaw
Pudman – I totally agree responsibility is a two way street. Gay people seldom get treated fairly though.
ErikO
HIV is not a manageable disease, and people’s medications stop working, or they stop taking them as they have horrible side effects, and people do still die from complications due to AIDS. I have seen HIV+ people compare it to being diabetic and that’s just silly. Telling people to go on toxic PREP/Truvada is not as effective as using condoms as you can still get infected even if you are on the toxic Truvada/PREP and you can still get other STDs and infected with HIV by someone who is HIV+ but supposedly undetecable.
Donston
I love how people are getting on a soapbox for a likely made up story. Lordy.
SactoMan
This is Queerty. Home of the deranged hysterical outraged queens…
Heywood Jablowme
I’m more surprised that most of the usual “deranged hysterical outraged queens” haven’t chimed in yet.
Stories like this tend to bring out a certain “Scarlet Letter” set but they’re not here… so far!
He BGB
Is hiv the only disease where you can be arrested if you infect someone? When it was an automatic death sentence I could kind of understand that kind of thinking but it seems extreme now, since it is manageable. Are there any other Killer Viruses?
Jaroslaw
He BGB – it is true that AIDS is relatively manageable, but it still kills you I think, unlike other STDs which are treatable. Perhaps not the case with syphilis anymore.
That said, lots of things kill and maim people, I have to wonder why the punishment is so harsh for transmitting AIDs. Gay prejudice? I’d bet on it. When my state cut off welfare for poor individuals, they didn’t even keep track of how many people became homeless, sick or died. Convenient for the government, I’d say.
Rich85
Radar Online is a gossip rag sister of the National Enquirer an organization with a boner to defame Sheen. They are also the site that accused Sheen of introducing drugs to Zac Efron causing him to become addicted and enter rehab. Sheen met Efron ONCE, on set through a mutual former publicist, period the end. Queerty regurgitating actual genuine, bona fide fake news as if it’s fact is beneath even Queerty whose forte is compiling instagram pics of the semi famous while shirtless.
Jack Meoff
Was it a known fact that Sheen is bisexual? I had never heard anything to indicate he had been with guys until reading this article.
Heywood Jablowme
Good point. I suspect that Radar Online is gleefully confusing fiction with reality, since his fictional Charlie character on “Two & A Half Men” had sex with two or three “chicks with d*cks” (always “hilarious” I know).
Kangol
The stories about Charlie Sheen’s bisexuality aren’t new. The British Daily Mail also reported about that infamous tape of him performing oral sex on another man as they went on a crack binge. This is the guy who claimed Sheen gave him herpes. It’s never been retracted and as far as I know Sheen hasn’t denied it.
Donston
Almost never do these things ever get retracted. And there would be no reason for Sheen to respond. The Daily Mail is also a sh*t/gossip rag. And once again, their “source” is merely RadarOnline. And the supposed video never came to light. And the supposed man never came forward. And a law suit was never actually filed.
Outside of a couple random articles published by RadarOnline over the last few years there’s been no indication and no even vague proof that Sheen is having sex or affairs with men, that he gave STDs to men or that he has paid any man off. Can be please stop pushing sensationalism and baseless gossip for our own entertainment?
Eye of the Beholder
Charlie Sheen is gay now? Oh, you mean per the video on Youtube where Charlie Sheen admits to having gay sex with Mel Gibson, Sean Penn, Colin Farrell, Pete Rose, Frank Sinatra, Mick Jagger, and a host of others!? Lmfao!
GayEGO
You can get HIV through drug needles, you do not have to be gay. Maybe Charlie is a bi-sexual.