Charlie Sheen says he was extorted after having sex with men

Charlie Sheen has claimed that he was extorted after having sexual encounters with men.

The former Two and a Half Men star has lifted the lid on his turbulent personal life, his struggles with addiction and how he has managed to stay completely sober for seven years.

Sheen, who was once the highest paid sitcom actor in the world, has a new memoir, The Book of Sheen, coming out on 9 September, as well as a two-part Netflix docuseries, aka Charlie Sheen, on the following day.

At the age of 60, he has come clean about his past sexual encounters with men, and has explained why he had to keep it a secret.

In an interview with Good Morning America, which aired on Friday (5 September), Sheen said he was being 'held hostage' by some of his sexual partners.

“It did come with a tremendous amount of extortion,” he told Michael Strahan.

“And so at the time, I was just like, ‘Alright, let’s just pay to keep it quiet. And just hope it just stays over there, make it go away, you know? Make it go away.’”

“They had videoed things or whatever, or had stuff over me,” he explained.

On why he has decided to speak about it openly in his book and documentary series, Sheen said: “I just need to be free of that ... and then see how the world feels if people know that stuff.

Charlie Sheen has explained why he has never publicly revealed that he had sex with men (Netflix)

“Because I’ve written a story all these years about, ‘Oh jeez, if I ever reveal that, then this has to be how I’d be dealt with, how I’d be treated, how they’d feel.’”

Sheen was diagnosed with HIV in 2011, the same year he was fired from Two and a Half Men. However, he only made the health issue public in 2015.

“The only couple of times I didn't tell somebody was because the last 25 times I’d told somebody, they used it against me, and they used my medical condition for their own folly and financial gain,” Sheen told Piers Morgan at London's Theatre Royal Drury Lane in 2016.

Sheen says he doesn't recognise his former self (ABC)

“And the amount of despicable charlatans that I thought were allies, that then turned against me, they were coming out of the woodwork, it was crazy.”

The actor, known for his roles in Platoon and Wall Street, has insisted that he's never infected anyone with HIV.

Sheen has a total of five children, as his his eldest, Cassandra Estevez, was with high-school girlfriend Paula Profit.

He and Denise Richards, married in 2002 and divorced in 2006, share daughters Sami and Lola.

Then in 2009, with third wife Brooke Mueller, he welcomed twin sons Max and Bob.