Harsh. Charlie Sheen’s HIV diagnosis was discussed in an insensitive March 2014 Sony email exposed when hackers released confidential messages in November 2014. As the Washington Post reported, an exec sent an email undermining Sheen’s ability to show up for work considering he’s a “drug addict” and “HIV positive.”
“I think I will win the 90/10 bet on the over under on this … it's hard to to be a drug addict and be HIV positive and do 40 eps a year,” the exec wrote, along with a link to a TV Week article about how crew members were threatening to quit after Sheen was a no-show on the set of his FX series Anger Management. The show had a notably aggressive filming schedule, completing 100 episodes in two years.
As explained by the Washington Post, the exec’s email jokes that Sheen wouldn’t be able to make it to the 100 episode mark, the number required to send Anger Management into syndication. “90/10” refers to an Anger Management deal that detailed if 10 episodes did well, then FX would order 90 more.
Sheen landed the FX gig after his disastrous fallout with Two and a Half Men creator Chuck Lorre in 2011. After being fired from the massive hit show — and threatening to sue for $11 million — Sheen went to FX to do Anger Management, which premiered in June 2012 and ended in December 2014.
Sheen revealed on the Today show on Tuesday, Nov. 17, that he was diagnosed as HIV-positive roughly four years ago. The troubled star said he confided in his ex-wives Brooke Mueller and Denise Richards and other close friends and family members about his HIV status.
