Charlie Sheen accused again of HIV exposure

Charlie Sheen.

NEW YORK • American actor Charlie Sheen is in trouble again, with another former girlfriend filing a lawsuit accusing him of exposing her to HIV.

Ms Scottine Ross, his ex-fiancee, had taken the same legal route in December 2015, alleging physical and emotional abuse in addition to HIV exposure. That suit has been referred to arbitration.

Sheen, 51, and the woman, a Russian, are not identified by name in the new suit that was filed last week in Los Angeles, according to a report in Variety.

The defendant is described as having learnt that he was HIV positive in 2011, and had given national television interviews about his health status on Nov 17, 2015, and June 21 last year .

The dates tally with those when Sheen, who starred in hit movies Platoon (1986) and Wall Street (1987), revealed his health condition on The Today Show and subsequently provided an update.

According to the new lawsuit, the woman met Sheen in September 2015.

She had asked him whether he had any sexually transmitted diseases, but he said he was "fine".

It was only later that Sheen owned up to the fact.

She said he also discouraged her from taking anti-retroviral drugs after she sought medical treatment.

On The Today Show in 2015, he revealed that he had paid upwards of US$10 million in hush money.

"I've paid people. Not that many, but enough where it has depleted the future... enough to bring it into the millions... that's money they're taking from my children," he said.

Sheen likened his experience of coming clean on TV to a release from "prison" and emphasised that he would no longer pay people for silence.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on June 26, 2017, with the headline Charlie Sheen accused again of HIV exposure. Subscribe