Charlie Sheen Admits He Paid A Few People Millions Of Dollars To Keep His HIV-Positive Diagnosis A Secret! (VIDEO)

The rumors were all true. As we reported yesterday, Charlie Sheen’s big, personal announcement was his shocking HIV-Positive diagnosis. The 50-year-old actor, who was once making over $1 million per episode on Two and a Half Men, sat down with Today’s Matt Lauer to discuss how different his life is now.

During the emotional interview, Sheen admitted he has managed to keep this a secret for four years; however, it cost him millions. When he found out the heartbreaking news four years ago, he had to share it with someone. He thought he could trust a small circle of friends.

Unfortunately, a few of those people weren’t really his friends. They saw an opportunity to make some money and went for it…

I have paid those people—not that many, but enough to where it has depleted the future. I don’t want to guess wrong, but enough to bring it into the millions. What people forget is that’s money they’re taking from my children. You know? They think it’s just me. But I’ve got five kids and a granddaughter, you know?

In fact, that’s one of the reasons he decided to come clean. He wanted to put an end to the payments and secrets, “I think I release myself from this prison today.” He said.

How Did He Find Out?

Four years ago, he started to realize something was not right “based on this series of cluster headaches and insane migraines and sweating the bed, completely drenched two, three nights in a row, that I was emergency hospitalized.”

Sheen thought he had a brain tumor. He thought his life was over, but after a ridiculous amount of tests, the doctors came back and told him the shocking news.

They walked in the room and said, ‘Boom. Here’s what’s going on.’ It’s a hard three letters to absorb. It’s a turning point in one’s life.

And of course he was asked how he might have contracted the virus. He claims he still doesn’t know 100% how or exactly when it happened, but when Lauer asked him if he had been involved in all those “risky behaviors” that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns against, the actor replied with “Negative. Are you talking about needles and that whole mess? No, definitely not.”

He hopes making his diagnosis public will help others. He’s ready to make a change.

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 and say, ‘Thanks, Charlie. Thanks for kicking the door open.’