Actor Charlie Sheen Is HIV-Positive

SO MUCH FOR WINNING …

According to TMZ.com, actor Charlie Sheen is going to disclose publicly on The Today Show that he is HIV-positive.  Sources connected to NBC’s “Today” tell TMZ … Sheen will sit down with Matt Lauer on Tuesday morning to make the announcement. The 50 year old actor has long struggled with substance abuse and has admitted to soliciting prostitutes in the past.

People:

Charlie Sheen is going on the Today show to discuss being HIV-positive, sources tell PEOPLE.

According to top Hollywood publicist and crisis manager Howard Bragman, he was approached by people close to Sheen six months ago to deal with the crisis, but never dealt with him directly. “The interview could open up a lot of sympathy for him, but he has to be concerned about a fear of litigation from former sexual partners. You don’t take that lightly.”

Bragman says he was informed that Sheen “is getting treatment, and a lot of people in his life know about it.”

“It’s been going on for quite awhile. He’s not necessarily comfortable talking about it. It was very hard to get up the courage for him to talk about it.”

UPDATE I: TMZ – Charlie Sheen Threats of Lawsuits Unraveled HIV Secret.

We’re told things changed when Charlie confided in several friends he thought were confidants … it turned out they weren’t, and spread the word he was HIV positive.

That led to several of Charlie’s former partners contacting him and threatening a lawsuit because they were unaware of his status when they had interaction with him. Our sources say Charlie settled several of the cases and, in return for money, got confidentiality agreements.

We’re told one of the settlements occurred late last month.