Actor Charlie Sheen says he was blackmailed by many of the people who were closest to him in the last four years who have known that he is HIV positive. Sheen revealed that fact and put the rumors to rest on Tuesday during an interview on the Today show.

The volatile and often unstable actor, who has led a troubled life, revealed all in the interview including the fact that he was diagnosed four years ago and looked to keep it a secret from everyone. Sheen is the most famous celebrity in over two decades to reveal that he has HIV. While the fake Hollywood smiles continue to show their emotional support for the troubled actor, what is revealed in private is Hollywood’s famous ability to instantly judge people. Most of what is dribbling out tends to be of the “I told you so” variety.

Hollywood watchers reveal that if it had been someone a little more respectable than Sheen, none of this judgment and negative publicity would be happening. Also, if Sheen had contracted HIV through a blood transfusion, that would have also been a different case altogether.

Many have seen the tremendous stress and anxiety Sheen has been under for the past 4 years as people he trusted and cared about continued to blackmail him for millions. It came to the point where Sheen just decided to come clean about it publicly. Those involved with HIV hope that it brings the awareness of the disease to the forefront once again. Many believe that it is an epidemic that doesn’t get talked about enough.

Sheen’s famous erratic behavior has kept him from working, but no one is contributing that behavior to the disease. Sheen, however, was considered rather loveable and hard-working until he had a public implosion a couple of years ago when he ranted and raved about his “tiger blood” and hanging out with actual goddesses. Many have suggested to Sheen that he seek professional psychiatric help. Sheen says he wants to spread the word about HIV and become an activist for it and the people who suffer from it.

One of Sheen’s ex-girlfriends, Bree Olsen, revealed that Sheen never told her about being HIV positive. On Tuesday, Olsen revealed to Howard Stern that she had lived and slept with Sheen for years after his meltdown and being fired from his television show, Two and a Half Men. She said that they engaged in intercourse nearly every day for a year. Sheen, she said, would wear lambskin condoms which help prevent pregnancy but don’t protect from disease.

Olsen said that he would often not protect himself and always vowed to her that he was clean and disease free. Olsen told Stern on his radio show that Sheen would wake up during the night suffering from HIV symptoms but just blamed them on the steroids he was on at the time. Olsen told Stern that she is angry and feels betrayed by a man she loved and trusted for a long time.