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American actor Charlie Sheen, has revealed he is HIV positive. In an exclusive interview Tuesday on TODAY with Matt Lauer, Charlie said he has been blackmailed on several occasions because he kept it a secret.

"It's a hard three letters to absorb. It's a turning point in one's life," the 50-year-old actor said.

Sheen said he had to make the announcement in order to stop extortion efforts.

The ‘Wall Street’ actor revealed he had paid extortionists about $10 million" to keep the illness a secret.

"What people forget is that its money taken from my children".

Sheen said he trusted the diagnosis with people he thought had his best interest at heart.

"I trusted them and they were deep in my inner circle, and I thought they could be helpful," he said. Instead, "my trust turned to their treason."

"I have to put a stop to this onslaught, this barrage of attacks and of sub-truths and very harmful and mercurial stories that are about me, that threaten the health of so many others that couldn't be further from the truth," the “Red Dawn” actor said.

Watch full interview in the video file below: