That’s right, the one-time bad boy of Hollywood, who became a household name for his “tiger blood” fueled antics and path to “winning,” none other than Charlie Sheen. During the past 10 years he has turned his life around. In a recent interview on Good Morning America, host Michael Strahan addressed Sheen’s past abuse of drugs and alcohol. Sheen defied stigma by being public about his HIV-positive status and his path toward healing and sobriety.
Sheen became a household name by going off the rails on a tiger blood high during his run on “Two and a Half Men.” Today, he is fighting every day to make a positive change in his life. In 2017, he stopped drinking for good and has been sober ever since. He looked back on this change, marveling that he is hardly able to recognize the person he was a decade earlier.
When Sheen publicly announced his HIV-positive status in 2015, he opened up about not only that illness, but the pain of living with a chronic illness. All in all, he shared that his health is doing well today and he’s feeling “pretty darn good.”
“My body was starting to reject it,” – Charlie Sheen
His previous struggles ranged from recovering from addiction to overcoming extortion due to his sexual orientation. During that time, Sheen had very active sexual relationships with men. That had to be a secret part of his life because if he were found out, he was finished. He described the pain of being “held hostage” by his situation. He said that for himself, being forced to pay people to hold his secrets made him feel trapped.
“It did come with a tremendous amount of extortion,” – Charlie Sheen
Reflecting on his past, Sheen remarked, “It’s weird. It’s like there’s a possession going on. I’m like, you know, kind of pleading with that version of me to just, ‘Dude, God, stop. Pull it back.’” He admitted that he struggled to understand who he was during those chaotic years and emphasized the importance of moving forward.
His deeply personal memoir, The Book of Sheen, was released on September 9 and takes a closer look at his life story. He’s candid about his powerful choice to quit doing drugs. He noted the difficulty of coming to terms with his past actions, stating, “I don’t really know what I did, that’s the problem. I don’t know what I’m supposed to yet apologize for.”
Sheen’s father-son and father-daughter relationships played an important part in his recovery, too. Although he admits there’s a strain in his relationship with his daughter Sami Sheen, 21, he is confident that things will get better. He described confidence in being able to restore their relationship one day.
“I feel like as long as everybody’s still in the game, there’s always a shot for a better tomorrow,” – Charlie Sheen
As he did so, he thought back on how crucial it was for him to have relationships outside of his public figure. “Ours are legitimate,” he said of his familial connections.
As his story unfolds, so too will the progress in relationships and in his sobriety path that Sheen is still actively working on today. He shared his experience of developing a healthier outlook on life. He is committed to becoming a better father and grandfather.
“There’s probably a lot of people out there that still only know me from those viral clips… That was a moment in a really long career where things just went off the freaking rails,” – Charlie Sheen
