because he's the one who most likely refused to wear condoms consistently or otherwise.

pregnancy but not HIV transmission.

I don't blame him because is a disease, not a judgment of moral character.

The operative word in my post is "must." Blame is a compulsion for some people.

so we blame victims for their misfortunes. this way we feel safer, because obvi if we are good people, we wont have misfortunes

ching-ching, even if they were not infected.

And I suppose even if his sex partners can be held 50% responsible, that still means Sheen is on the hook for the other 50%. And as I said, he's rich.

No argument from me at all.

From what I read, however, Sheen decided to come forward in part to put an end to hush money arrangements. He may have opened a Pandora's Box, however. I guess time will tell.

Well said.

There is so much out there these days in terms of porn, I can't imagine everyone is getting tested...you over-reached...I'm not blaming and it's Sheen's business, but your post isn't accurate.

"We set up a camera and then posted it on the Internet" may or may not.

and there are PORN stars.

Additionally, I believe CA is the only state that even requires testing.

But yeah, I agree, he really could have become infected by anyone at any time.

... witch burning.

Can I blame the hookers?

what exactly are they being blamed for?

for having a disease? for not knowing that they have the disease? for having sex?

what exactly are you blaming these 'hookers' for?

It's certainly possible that person knew.
We also don't know if Sheen himself told everyone he was having sex with about being HIV positive after he already knew he was infected.

we don't know is exactly the reason we should not point fingers.

Somebody obviously infected him.

and moralistic assumptions about sex workers and sex work.

It's not about blame. And people do need to take precautions to protect their own health as well.

Apparently both were in the picture, but the focus seems to be on the females.

fine, he has hiv and that sucks. but blaming everyone in the universe and trying to get sympathy for this "shakedown" has already worn thin imo.

he engaged in risky behavior, he got a virus. no moral judgement, just cause and effect. perhaps he should focus his attention on his health instead of his PR concerns

So I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later.

if your sympathy has already worn thin

but him going on lauer and complaining that he "had to" pay millions to keep it secret. nice that he has millions to bribe people.

boo hoo

this is why we have laws against it.

and i have plenty of empathy for people he might have lied to and infected.

man says he is sick and is being blackmailed and you say boo hoo. if that is not a lack of empathy i dont know what is.

but being sick does not excuse one from acting like an ass. there is a possibility he is in legal trouble for not informing partners when he was +. as for the millions he supposedly paid, what about people who want their privacy kept who do not have spare millions to pay people off?

i have sympathy, its just limited in his case

have a nice evening

Granted, being a celebrity, his are writ a bit larger than most of us, but I certainly don't go around disclosing personal health information to everyone.

The fact is he got the virus and may have engaged in risky behavior. Regardless of your moral views, that doesn't give ANYONE the right to extort money from him on pain of revealing his HIV status to the world. Everyone, celebrities and non-celebrities have a right to privacy when it comes to health information about themselves.

So, yeah, I think he's entitled to some sympathy.

it was just limited in his case.

mostly i feel bad he has a nasty virus and might die. it sucks.

In my mind it seems more likely given Mr. Sheen's past. Sharing needles highly dangerous and a very very very common mode of transmission.

But I did want to make sure people know it isn't only the act of sex that can transmit the virus.

He was probably sharing needles with them he was having sex with.

But blame it on women...

Asshole.

He probably gave as well as he got.

seems really unjustified.

Female-to-male transmission of HIV is extremely rare: (1) outside of the male have an existing (and active) venereal disease or (2) the occurrence of certain unusual sexual practices common in Africa,* although anal sex does carry some risk.

So drugs seems pretty logical.


* In certain parts of Africa they like friction and intentionally dry certain things out using pads/clothe. Sounds rather unpleasant to me and unfun for the female.

You not going to get HIV from using drugs unless you inject this drugs using dirty needles. He claims he hasn't done that.

Like not being on drugs at all, when he was clearly high as a kite.

AIDS has been used by conservatives to specifically attack Gay men even though it hits a broad spectrum of the population.

If someone lets him have it because of allegedly knowing he had it and not informing others stick to that.

But guffaws about Sheen having HIV is nasty since we defend others that have it for different reasons.

And let's hope that Mr. Sheen helps out anyone with their health needs that he may have infected.

I'll not speak of things to "protect the innocent" but I ain't innocent.

Prostitution, porn, alcohol, drugs, and needles are frequently a package deal.

Mr. Sheen clearly bought the entire package.

If I seem a little grouchy about this it's because most of my childhood friends and classmates who were gay men or addicts are dead. I also worked in a blood bank and our hemophilia mostly died too.

It was a very angry time for me.



Honesty and transparency and compassion were in short supply.

then, be set for life...


Have to admit-

One night party at his house must be one hell of a time! Do we play your old movies first or go straight to the porn LOL

Having unprotected sex with multiple partners who themselves have multiple partners whether they were paid for it or not is risky behavior.

This is not rocket science.

Hope he will do the right thing from now on and inform anyone he intends to have sex with of his HIV status and if they agree to it for whatever reason, attraction or money, he will use a condom.

which do prevent pregnancy but not hiv transmission. so, it could just be a lack of knowledge.

typically straight people do not think they are at risk for HIV

At any rate hopefully this will serve as a wake up call for those who think themselves bulletproof.

I'd love to hear the pretense from the idiot who pretends absolute knowledge of each and every risk taken daily.

We can only assume that Sheen had unprotected sex (and probably lots of it). Maybe with men too - who knows. We really don't know how became infected other than an infected person's body fluid (whether it be blood, semen, or vaginal secretions) got inside his body somehow.

One thing's for sure - blaming his porn star friends is just plain ignorant - HIV infection is a disease that can be PREVENTED through using protection during sex play. Charlie made that choice.

his partners) are doing. People do stupid things under the influence, so it's possible that some not very wise decisions were made when he and his partners were out of their minds. You never really know. Heavy drug/alcohol use and promiscuous sex is just not a good combination.

Of all the decisions one can make in their life, going to a drug orgy at Charlie Sheen's house just isn't a very good one.

and tested again. And tested again. He could have contracted it from anybody. (It could also be drug related.)

I am not surprised that a life such as the one he's lived has led to HIV, though. I'm sure he's tried every drug and slept with many people without using protection. That's stupid. Hopefully this story will make women think twice before sleeping with someone they are not monogamous without a condom.

I jumped ahead in my thoughts and wasn't clear.

It's being speculated that he was not upfront about his status. That makes him a jerk. Anybody (straight or gay) should use a condom when having sex with someone they don't know. I was thinking in particular about the women who claim they had unprotected sex with him and were not told about his HIV status. It shows you can't always trust people to do the right thing, so protect yourself.

I don't know how he got it. (Whether it was drug use or unprotected sex. Either way, he should have protected himself, as well.)

I mean, the guy's life has been a train wreck, pretty sad to watch, for a while. This is pretty clearly more fallout from that, however it happened.

"blame" is irrelevant.

I have no idea if there are "stars" in the porn world or not, but I seriously doubt anyone would recognize them as such.

otherwise, no.

but like i'm not an expert of stardom at all

...but many people know these porn stars names:

(the top one on this list is worth 30 million)

http://www.therichest.com/rich-list/most-popular/the-10-richest-female-porn-stars-of-2013/?view=all

But well, I am not much of a porn aficionado.

Sasha Grey? Traci Lords? Linda Lovelace? Ron Jeremy?

I'm not even a porn guy and I can name those people.

I looked him up trying to figure out who he was. He looked like a troll to me. That was some years ago.

Linda Lovelace is the one from way back in the day right? So yes, I have heard of those two. I guess I did not know they were "stars" in any sort of way.

No, I do not know the other names at all. I read all the major newspapers, magazines etc on a regular basis...guess I have missed their star status.

That's probably one of the most famous people on the planet right now. A media empire pulling in millions a year. But if you were born any time before the last couple years of the last century, you probably have no idea, also no idea that many of the world's most-viewed media personalities are teenagers who play videogames like minecraft on youtube for other kids and teenagers to watch.

I'm talking about viewership in the tens of millions, an audience the major networks would love to have.

When Paul McCartney came on stage for the Video Music Awards last year, 70% of the audience had no idea who that old british dude was.

Short answer, yes, there is such a thing as a porn star.

Long answer, I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings (I seem to be foreced to point this out on DU a lot these days, particularly since so many people here think they're experiencing the 1972 election all over again) but we are holdovers, living on a planet that belongs to the 21st century and those born in it.

Walking Antiques, in the words of Bob Dylan, another name from the misty, distant past.

Good grief, people can have sex with multiple people for all kinds of reasons and it doesn't mean they are to be blamed for being HIV +.. The only blame I might put on someone would be if they knew they were positive and didn't disclose it. But not everyone knows their status. Just among people I know, the more active friends seem to check their status more frequently than those who don't have multiple partners.

He said so himself that he was abusing drugs and alcohol and used poor judgement in his sexual activities.

Unless it can be proven he was infectd with HIV during a drug transfusion, I am going to assime it was because of his drug habit or his promiscuity. There does not seem to be much dobt about it. Comparong Sheen's willful activities to influenza is ridiculous.

Last edited Tue Nov 17, 2015, 10:41 PM - Edit history (2)

and if you're HIV positive -- even undectably so -- YOU'RE REQUIRED BY LAW to let your partner know whether you have protected sex or not. Maybe Sheen shouldn't be blamed for contracting HIV, but he should certainly be blamed for taking the risk of passing it on.

From the Today Show website: The Interview with Matt Lauer

Excerpts from an open letter Charlie wrote and Lauder read:

As of now, there is no such thing as being HIV free
There are only two HIV statuses: HIV positive and HIV negative
If your HIV levels are so low they're undetectable, you are HIV positive
If you are HIV positive, you should inform your partners even if you're paying them. It's as civilized as it is legal.

No part of the interview says he infected others.

Out of either carelessness, recklessness, or ambivalence. And every time he didn't tell a partner that he was HIV positive, he broke the law.


rocktivity

Saying that he did disclose to partners following his diagnosis.

Most people infect others before diagnosis which is why stigmatizing the disease and people who have it is unproductive.

is a common cause of infection.

and failure. I guess every famous person has a few like that.

The hurt you feel with your allegation that the porn star blackmailed you
is nothing to compared to the hurt that the escort felt when you stuck a knife to
her throat, threatened to kill her, locked her in a closet against her will, and then
a few months later went on comedy central and pissed yourself laughing making
jokes about it.

Im sure she was also paid by comedy central though.

That's a horrible way to think of illness, and that pattern of thought about this illness in particular has caused a lot of harm.

as ounishment is because in situations such as this one, the HIV is the result of activities by the 'victim'.

the difference is that those diseases did not start with already stigmatized individuals, so we dont associate as much stigma and blame with them

And you're right--he almost certainly didn't get it from a porn star. If he had, then this news would have broken long ago.

I could care less about how Sheen got the disease, but it was his responsibility to tell every partner in his life, past and present, about his condition. And I am not convinced that he did. Indeed, he seems to admit to the fact that he did not.

Relevant parties

Most of the higher end porn stars watch their HIV status much more closely than charlie, because it threatens their LIVING, unlike Charlie who could get execs to throw millions at him no matter what he did.

I wouldn't say that I have no sympathy, but my sympathy is limited. He hasn't been sequestered behind soundproof walls. He has to have known the risks he was taking. His judgment has no doubt been severely impaired by all the drugs and alcohol, but that was his choice, as well. He is reaping what he has sown. One could only wish that he'd been a better farmer. Sad situation.

Last edited Fri Nov 27, 2015, 12:34 AM - Edit history (3)

despite continuing with his risky lifestyle. Meanwhile, his doctor expressed fear that his bouts with depression, drinking and illegal drug taking might knock him off course. Apparently it hasn't occurred to either of them that his addiction to risky promiscuity might be part of the problem, too!


rocktivity

They used those terms to describe the porn stars and the business.