It may feel like the distant past, but only five years ago, Charlie Sheen was “drinking tiger’s blood” and “#winning.”
Now, after revealing his HIV-positive status in late 2015, Sheen has signed on as a condom spokesperson for new brand Lelo Hex condoms.
In a surprising about-face, Sheen is resigned and serious in the condom ad, which you can watch above. His calm, level demeanour is a far cry from his days of public rants and declarations of success.
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“I think people associate the word ‘condom’ with less pleasure. With less connection,” Sheen says in the ad. “What may feel like five seconds of an inconvenience or a halted or thwarted moment can absolutely prevent a lifetime of potential grief and suffering.”
“A lot has to do with that fantasy belief that that could never happen to them,” he continues. “That’s something that I can speak to. I pretty much felt the same way.”
Sheen then says that his HIV diagnosis has changed his way of thinking, along with others’ perceptions of him. He claims that he wants people to learn from his experience.
“There’s an odd combination now, people still want to be like me or experience my life, but there’s a little detail they want no part of,” he said. “So they can avoid that by using this.”
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It’s unclear how much Sheen, 50, was paid to be the spokesperson for Lelo Hex (or if he’s made any charitable donation to the company), but the actor insists that he’s on a crusade to promote safe sex.
“It’s stuff people don’t want to talk about, and I figured: If I’m involved, maybe they’ll talk about it,” he said to People magazine. “This is a way to prevent a lot of s–t from happening, from disease to unwanted pregnancies. But it’s still taboo for some reason.”
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