Magic Johnson Pledges Support to Charlie Sheen in HIV Battle: ‘I Hope He Joins Me in Educating the World’
“I wish @CharlieSheen and his family the best. With the advancement in treatments and medicine he can fight this disease and live a long life,” NBA star says
Charlie Sheen has had an outpouring of support since he publicly announced Tuesday that he was diagnosed as HIV positive four years ago, and now Magic Johnson has reached out to the actor via Twitter.
“I wish @CharlieSheen and his family the best. With the advancement in treatments and medicine he can fight this disease and live a long life,” the NBA star said in a heartfelt Twitter Tuesday afternoon.
The Los Angeles Lakers legend, whose real name is Earvin Johnson Jr., revealed that he had tested positive for HIV in November 1991 and immediately retired from the NBA — but went on to play in the All-Star game and the 1992 Summer Olympics.
The NBA star later created the Magic Johnson Foundation to help combat HIV and has been active in the fight against the disease ever since.
Johnson has stated that his aim is to “help educate all people about what [HIV] is about” and teach others not to “discriminate against people who have HIV and AIDS.”
Johnson has now invited Sheen to help him in his fight for awareness.
“In @CharlieSheen breaking his silence, I hope he joins me in educating the world about HIV/AIDs,” he wrote in a follow up tweet.
As for notorious Hollywood playboy Sheen, the 50-year-old sitcom star said in an interview with Matt Lauer on NBC’s “Today” on Tuesday that HIV is a “hard three letters to absorb … It’s a turning point in one’s life.”
Sheen’s marriage to Brooke Mueller ended in 2011, the same year as his diagnosis as well as a very public meltdown that led to his departure from the hit CBS sitcom “Two and a Half Men.” On Tuesday, he said his diagnosis led to a downward spiral in his attitude and behavior.
“I was so depressed by the position I was in,” he said. “I was doing a lot of drugs, I was drinking way too much and I was making really bad decisions.”
Coming forward, the actor said, has removed the stigma he had previously attached to his HIV status.
“I have a responsibility now to better myself and to help a lot of other people, and hopefully with what we’re doing today, others may come forward sand say, ‘Thanks, Charlie. Thanks for kicking the door open,'” he vowed.
See Magic’s tweets below.
I wish @CharlieSheen and his family the best. With the advancement in treatments and medicine he can fight this disease and live a long life
Charlie Sheen's 13 Craziest Moments: From 'Winning' to Curing Alcoholism With His Mind (Photos)
Charlie Sheen boozes his way through "Wall Street" "I'd begun drinking all the time," Sheen recalled of shooting the 1987 Oscar-winning drama. "We shot in New York City, so I'd be out to the bars every night till 3 or 4 a.m., then try to show up for a 6 o'clock call to stand toe to toe with Michael Douglas and handle 50 percent of a scene."
He added, "I'd be drinking away, doing blow [cocaine], popping pills, and telling myself I wasn't an addict, because there wasn't a needle stuck in my arm."
Charlie shoots Kelly Preston In 1990, actress Kelly Preston was shot in the arm -- by Sheen's revolver, which he later claimed had fallen out of his jeans pocket and fired a bullet that struck his then-girlfriend with shrapnel from the toilet bowl.
A Charlie Sheen Christmas Nothing says Christmas like presents under the tree, mistletoe hanging in the doorway and maybe threatening your wife with a knife. At least, that's the way Brooke Mueller claimed things went down on Christmas 2009 when, she told 911, Sheen pinned her to a bed and put a knife up to herthroat.
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Charlie's New York adventure According to reports, the actor allegedly suffered a meltdown at a New York hotel in November 2010 during a stay with porn actress Capri Anderson, during which she claimed, Sheen snorted a white powder, put his hands around her neck and then tore open her purse.
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"Two and a Half Men" creator Chuck Lorre is a "maggot" When you're clinging to your high-paying job by a thread, it's probably not a good idea to insult your boss, but that logic apparently eluded Sheen, who tore into Lorre with a scathing open letter in February 2011. Maybe it was the tiger blood talking.
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Charlie cures his alcoholism -- with his mind! In another classic Sheen interview with radio personality Alex Jones in February 2011, the actor reveals that he managed to rid himself of the blight of alcoholism, with the awesome power that is his mind.
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Sheen invents "winning!" In a bizarre March 2011 live stream that attracted over 104,000 viewers in the first 15 minutes, Sheen promised a dial-in from the president, sent #TigerBlood viral while debuting a new "Winning" tattoo.
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Sheen's "20/20" interview In March 2011, as the world gawked at Sheen's increasingly strange behavior and wondered if the "Two and a Half Men" star was nuts, the actor set the record straight with an absolutely unhinged face-to-face with "20/20's" Andrea Canning.
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Charlie Sheen pays Lindsay Lohan's taxes In a typical display of Sheen generosity, the actor sent his "Scary Movie 5" co-star Lindsay Lohan a $100,000 check in 2012 to help her pay back a $230,000 debt to the IRS.
"Charlie has a long history of helping out his friends in many ways and this is just another example of that,” his spokesperson said.
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Charlie gets fake-married to a porn star Hey, remember in early 2014 when Charlie Sheen said he'd tied the knot to adult actress Brett Rossi ... and then it turned out to be a big joke? Probably for the best, because he's not all that good at the marriage thing.
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Charlie threatens Ashton Kutcher With his lucrative "Two and a Half Men" gig in his rear-view mirror, Sheen did the logical thing and threatened Ashton Kutcher, his successor on the once-popular CBS sitcom. As a war of words between the two actors grew more heated in 2014, Sheen tweeted, "[Y]ou ever tell me to shut the F*** up, EVER again and I'll put you on a hospital food diet for a year."
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Sheen's "bad reaction" to gas at the dentist's office Nobody enjoys visiting the dentist, but Sheen may have taken things too far when, according to reports, he allegedly went after his dentist with a knife in 2014. Sheen's lawyer later dismissed the allegations, claiming the actor had merely had a "bad reaction to the noxious gas put in his mouth and nose."
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Sheen bashes ex-wife Denise Richards on Father's Day Charlie Sheen celebrated Father's Day 2015 by evaluating his ex-wives. While Brooke Mueller got his stamp of approval, Denise Richards didn't fare as well. "Brooke M is a sexy rok star whom I adore D Richards a heretic washed up piglet Shame pile Happy Father's Day!!!" he wrote.
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The actor has had a long career of revelations, social media feuds and classic Hollywood bad-boy behavior
Charlie Sheen boozes his way through "Wall Street" "I'd begun drinking all the time," Sheen recalled of shooting the 1987 Oscar-winning drama. "We shot in New York City, so I'd be out to the bars every night till 3 or 4 a.m., then try to show up for a 6 o'clock call to stand toe to toe with Michael Douglas and handle 50 percent of a scene."
He added, "I'd be drinking away, doing blow [cocaine], popping pills, and telling myself I wasn't an addict, because there wasn't a needle stuck in my arm."
