Charlie Sheen and HIV: Why there may be no coming back from this truth bomb

Charlie Sheen has long courted negative publicity and reveled in his image as a party animal. Photo / Getty Images

"Here is my unwanted guest list. The names slightly altered to prevent their stench from polluting my magic daiquiri, or even worse, stealing my favoUrite pony. A pony named Steve, his orange mane painted blue, blue like the evening sky, as he gallops into the basement to acquire the ancient flatware and a rotting cheeseboard covered in the mould of their moral dysentery."

That piece of poetry is a quote from none other than Charlie Sheen, when he took to the internet for "Sheen's Korner" in 2011 - a short-lived webcast in which the actor shared all his thoughts and feelings. Specifically, about being fired from Two and a Half Men after a truly epic meltdown.

Sheen's very public implosion was all anyone - at least on the internet - could talk about for a solid month. Every day brought a new surprise and truly unfortunate consequences.

Now, it appears Sheen will be dominating the headlines again for weeks to come.

The actor has been identified by the National Enquirer and its sister gossip site Radar Online as the "mystery" Hollywood star who has HIV.

Immediately after that story broke, Sheen announced he would be doing a tell-all interview with the Today show in the US, where it is expected he will confirm the diagnosis.

And as that news quickly sunk in, Radar made another claim: Police will be investigating Sheen over allegations he slept with women while HIV-positive.

The National Enquirer that made the HIV claims.

Sheen, 50, has a string of high-profile ex-wives and girlfriends, including Denise Richards and Brooke Mueller, and has boasted of sleeping with more than 5000 women.

"Charlie thought he was indestructible and took no precautions - even though he was indulging in high-risk sex practices," a friend was quoted as telling the Enquirer.

Radar Online executive editor Lachlan Cartwright told TV3 this morning that Sheen was in "financial ruin" - an amazing revelation because he was at one point the highest-paid actor on TV, making about US$1.8 million an episode when he was starring in the sitcom Anger Management.

He still makes millions from the syndication of that show and Two and a Half Men but Cartwright claimed that the star had paid at least US$5 million in legal fees and pay-outs to women he slept with while HIV-positive.

Sheen with his ex-wife Denise Richards in 2012. Photo / Getty Images

Cartwright said that the payouts would increase in light of the news "because more women, we are sure, are going to come forward, and then there will be this criminal probe where he potentially faces charges. So it's an extraordinary story. He spent the last three and a bit years covering it up and today the truth has come to light."

Sheen has frequently played up the stories the tabloids have written about his excesses. He has revelLed in his image of the star Hollywood can't control, a party animal who drops "truth bombs" on a world that can't handle his wild ways.

The fact that he is the son of Martin Sheen, a devout Catholic who is best known for playing the president liberal America always wished it had, has only added to his "mythic" status.

The latest revelations, however, if true, will be hard to shake off. Hollywood is a forgiving town - Sheen's multiple comebacks have proved that - but this may be the last straw, especially if he has knowingly harmed people.

Charlie Sheen with his father Martin Sheen and brother Emilio Estevez in 1994. Photo / Getty Images

But it is worth remembering that he has weathered a lot of storms. Here are just a few of them.

2010: For some context, this year was the beginning of the end. On Christmas Day 2009, Sheen was arrested in Aspen on domestic violence charges against his then-wife, Brooke Mueller. In February, he went to rehab. In August, he pleaded guilty to the domestic violence charge and was sentenced to more rehab. That fall was non-stop tabloid story chaos: Sheen trashed a room at the Plaza Hotel, reportedly under the influence of drugs; he was hospitalised; partied in Las Vegas; got sued by a porn star and then sued her back for extortion.

Jan. 11: Reports emerge that CBS and production company Warner Bros. want Two and a Half Men to go on hiatus so Sheen (who is making about $2 million per episode) can go to rehab.

Jan. 25, 2011: At the 2011 Television Critics Association press tour, CBS entertainment chief Nina Tassler addresses Sheen's behaviour and admits, "We have a high level of concern - how could we not?" But she insists the status of the show, currently bringing in tons of money with its 15 million viewers a week, is fine: "On a personal level, we're concerned - on a professional level, he does his job and he does it well and the show's a hit, and that's all I have to say."

Charlie Sheen and co-star Jon Cryer at the height of his Two and a Half Men fame. Photo / Getty Images

Jan. 28: After Sheen is hospitalised again, he announces he's going to rehab, and will complete the programme in his own house (which he calls the "Sober Valley Lodge"). Two and a Half Men is put on hiatus, with 16 out of 24 episodes filmed for the eighth season.

Feb. 2011: Sheen kills time in rehab by calling in to syndicated radio shows to do interviews.

Feb. 14: The last filmed Season 8 episode of Two and a Half Men airs.

Feb. 24: Sheen gives his most infamous radio interview to syndicated host Alex Jones, where he bashes Two and a Half Men creator Chuck Lorre: "Check it, Alex: I embarrassed him in front of his children and the world by healing at a pace that this un-evolved mind cannot process." He also called Alcoholics Anonymous a "bootleg cult," saying: "The only thing I'm addicted to right now is winning."

Later on Feb. 24: CBS scraps production on Two and a Half Men for the season. "Based on the totality of Charlie Sheen's statements, conduct and condition, CBS and Warner Bros. Television have decided to discontinue production of Two and a Half Men for the remainder of the season," the network says in a statement.

Sheen with adult entertainment star Bree Olson and Natalie Kenly during his Torpedo of Truth tour in 2011. Photo / Getty Images

Feb. 25: Sheen sends a letter to TMZ, raging about the show being shut down: "I gracefully ignored this folly for 177 shows ... I fire back once and this contaminated little maggot can't handle my power and can't handle the truth. I wish him nothing but pain in his silly travels especially if they wind up in my octagon."

Feb. 28: The avalanche of interviews begins, and he continues to attack the show. "I am on a drug. It's called 'Charlie Sheen. It's not available because if you try it once, you will die. Your face will melt off, and your children will weep over your exploded body," he tells Good Morning America.

Feb. 28: Sheen's publicist resigns.

March 1: Chuck Lorre responds via a vanity card at the end of his other CBS sitcom, Mike & Molly. It's vague and existential. ("In other words, I am aware, ergo I am alone.")

March 1: Sheen gives an interview to 20/20 about "the goddesses," the two women (one a former porn star) who lived with him in his Los Angeles home. "We win so radically in our underwear before our first cup of coffee, it's scary. People say it's lonely at the top, but I sure like the view," he said.

March 1: Police come to Sheen's home and take his and Brooke Mueller's toddler twin sons, Max and Bob, after Mueller files a restraining order. People magazine asks if he's going to try to get his kids back. Sheen replies back via text: "Born ready. Winning."

March 2: Sheen talks to the Today show about his custody problems, saying he'll do anything he can to get his sons back.

March 3: The rambling interviews continue nonstop. Sheen says he has "tiger blood," "Adonis DNA" and confesses, 'I'm tired of pretending I'm not a total bitchin' rock star from Mars.'" And of course, he grants America a new catchphrase: "Winning!"

March 3: Sheen joins Twitter and breaks a world record by gaining a million followers in 24 hours.

March 7: After even more interviews, with Sheen calling Two and a Half Men a "pukefest," CBS and Warner Bros. have enough and officially fire him from the show. "Your client has been engaged in dangerously self destructive conduct and appears to be very ill," the network says in a letter to Sheen's attorney. Among his transgressions: "felony offenses involving moral turpitude (including but not limited to furnishing of cocaine to others as part of the self-destructive lifestyle he has described publicly)."

March 8: Sheen starts his short-lived web show, Sheen's Korner which he nicknames "Torpedoes of Truth Part 2." He shares his thoughts on a variety of topics, including his favourite "secret elixir."

March 10: Sheen sues Warner Bros. and Lorre for $100 million. "Warner Bros. capitulated to Lorre's egotistical desire to punish Mr. Sheen and to stop work on the Series for the rest of the season, and used its powerful public relations machine to create a myth to justify their conduct by wrongfully blaming Mr. Sheen," the suit says.

April 2: Sheen goes on the road with a "Violent Torpedo of Truth" tour.

July: Sheen lands a deal with FX to star in a TV show based on the movie Anger Management, which the network picks up for 100 episodes. It runs until December 2014, proving that Hollywood is a mystical creature where anyone (seriously, anyone) can be given a second chance.

- With the Washington Post