Charlie Sheen has spent $10 million on blackmail payments

Updated
Charlie Sheen Today
Charlie Sheen Today



Charlie Sheen appeared on the Today programme yesterday, and confirmed he is HIV positive. He also told the programme that since he was diagnosed four years ago, he had been blackmailed for $10 million, by people threatening to expose his illness.

Before the show, he wrote to the programme saying: "Sadly, my truth soon became their treason as a deluge of blackmail and extortion took centre stage in this circus of deceit."

He said one woman had taken a photo of the HIV medication in his bathroom and threatened to sell the image to the papers. He added that others were friends rather than sexual partners, who he told the truth to, and they decided to exploit it.

He said that coming clean was releasing himself from a prison.
%VIRTUAL-ArticleSidebar-crime-stories%
Celebrities blackmailed

Being in the public eye means there are always people who will try to use your position to make their fortune. This year alone we have seen a number of odd blackmail attempts hit the headlines.

Earlier this week Rob Halfon, a Conservative cabinet member, admitted to having had a relationship with a Conservative campaigner - which lasted for a few months this year. Halfon, who has a long-term partner, was reportedly informed that a former Conservative aide planned to take pictures of the pair in order to blackmail him for political gain. He immediately called off the affair and has now admitted it and apologised.

Real Madrid footballer, Mathieu Valbuena, told police this summer that he was being blackmailed over an alleged sex tape. Police are currently investigating, but so far the tape has not been released.

In February The Sun revealed that an unnamed married Premier League footballer spent a night with a woman, and then sent her explicit photos and videos. She then approached his club and threatened to release them unless she was paid £10,000. They refused to pay, and as yet nothing has been released.

In January this year, the English Cricket Board revealed that England's one-day captain Eoin Morgan had been contacted by an Australian man demanding a 'five figure sum'. If he didn't pay up, the man said he would reveal details of a relationship Morgan had with a woman five years ago. Morgan immediately contacted the English Cricket Board, who easily identified the blackmailer and confronted him. He apologised and said he wouldn't be in touch again.

Fortunately, not every blackmail attempt ends in stress and worry for the celebrity concerned. In September, a model tried to blackmail Czech ice hockey star Jaromir Jag, by taking post-coital snaps of him snoozing, and threatening to release them if he didn't pay her $2,000. The single 43-year-old, who plays for the Florida Panthers, told her to go ahead and release the photo. Unfortunately for her, she then had to explain her actions to her boyfriend.

Bree Olson Angry Over Charlie Sheen's HIV: 'I Could Be Dead Right Now!'
Bree Olson Angry Over Charlie Sheen's HIV: 'I Could Be Dead Right Now!'


Advertisement