Earlier this week Charlie Sheen confirmed that he is HIV-Positive and his father Martin Sheen has opened up about his son's decision to share the news with the world saying that he is proud of him for doing "the most difficult thing he's ever done."
Speaking at an event in Florida the 75-year-old West Wing star spoke about his son's revelation saying: "He had been leading up to this sort of story for several months and we kept encouraging him to do it.
"But he kept backing away and back away because it was like going to his own execution, I guess. It was the most difficult thing he's ever done."
After much speculation, Charlie Sheen confirmed his health status to NBCToday show host Matt Lauer live on air on Tuesday.
"I have to put a stop to this onslaught, this barrage of attacks and of sub truths... and very harmful and mercurial stories threatening the health of so many others, which couldn't be farther from the truth," he said.
Charlie Sheen made the announcement on Tuesday morning.
The Naples Daily News reported that Martin Sheen began to choke up when he spoke about the moment his son shared the news with the world saying he offered to be with him when he did it.
"We didn't know until he walked on the set that he was going to do it. I saw him Saturday night – my wife and I went to see him – to make sure he knew we were behind him and, if he wanted me to go, I would have cancelled this event. But he said no, this was his and his along," he revealed.
Charlie Sheen - best known for his lead roles in the series Two and a Half Men and Spin City and the films Platoon and Wall Street - said he had received his diagnosis "roughly four years ago" and that it was "a hard three letters to absorb".
When asked did he know how he had contracted HIV, Sheen replied: "Not entirely".
Martin Sheen wanted to stand by his son Charlie during his reveal.
Previously, he had begun having "insane migraines" and sweating profusely in bed. He was hospitalised and thought he had a brain tumour before the diagnosis was confirmed.
The 50-year-old said he had confided in enough people that he felt he could trust to be in the position that he was now in, where he felt compelled to give the interview.
In trying to keep his diagnosis out of the media spotlight, he said that he had become a victim of betrayal and extortion with some demanding money to stay silent. Sheen alleged he had paid enough people to "bring it into the millions".
"What people forget is that's money they're taking from my children," he added.
He described the interview as a way of releasing himself "from this prison".
"I have a responsibility now to better myself and help a lot of other people," he said.
Sheen has battled drug and alcohol problems over the years with his private life generating much controversy and media coverage. He has been married three times, engaged five times and is father to five children.
The Golden Globe winner's most recent sitcom, Anger Management, ended in December 2014 after 100 episodes and he is said to have kept a low profile recently.
