Charlie Sheen
Charlie Sheen, pictured here at the 2013 premiere of "Scary Movie 5" in Hollywood, is now the subject of speculation that he may be HIV-positive. He'll appear on "The Today Show" to make an announcement on Nov. 17. Getty

UPDATE 2:17 p.m. EST: According to People magazine, Charlie Sheen's representatives approached a celebrity crisis manager named Howard Bragman, who confirmed that the actor is in fact HIV-positive. Original story follows.

Former “Two and a Half Men” actor Charlie Sheen is reportedly HIV-positive. The report comes from the National Enquirer, which claims it has confirmed with several sources that the 50-year-old actor has been hiding the diagnosis and allegedly engaging in unprotected sex with unsuspecting women for quite some time. It’s important to note that the story has not been printed yet, so the quality of the Enquirer’s reporting and research is yet to be determined. However, the reported rumor has apparently caught the actor’s attention.

The gossip magazine plans to publish its article in print on Wednesday. However, “Today” released a statement announcing that Sheen would appear Tuesday morning to make an undisclosed personal announcement. It’s unclear at this time if the announcement will be to dispel the rumors, confirm them or something else, but the recent rumors indicating that he is HIV positive will likely be addressed.

The rumors began when the notorious gossip outlet posted a blind item about a Hollywood playboy that’s been hiding the fact that he’s HIV-positive. At the time, the outlet chose to print the story without the actor’s name. When the rumor gained traction and people started to wonder who the playboy in question was, it posted the announcement revealing Sheen as the man in question.

Sheen has avoided the public spotlight since his very dramatic and public exit from his hit CBS series “Two and a Half Men” in 2011. He did make 100 episodes of his often forgotten FX sitcom, “Anger Management,” before the network pulled the plug in 2014, according to E! Online. In his tell-all book, Sheen’s “Men” co-star John Cryer detailed the circumstances in the actor’s life that led to his public meltdown and firing from the show. The co-star paints a grim picture of depression, drug use and self-destructive tendencies that have made Sheen such a notorious figure in Hollywood in recent years.

According to Radar Online, which claims to have details from the Enquirer’s story, the actor slept with multiple partners since learning of his diagnosis and has quieted at least one of them with hush money. However, those rumors aren’t yet confirmed by any reputable outlet or report. Unfortunately, speculation is all anyone has to go on until the actor takes the stage on “The Today Show” to either confirm or quell the story.

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