Charlie Sheen Endorses New Condom Brand LELO HEX, Addresses HIV Status

Charlie Sheen, who confirmed that he was HIV-positive last year, has turned his attention to promoting the use of condoms – specifically LELO HEX.

Charlie Sheen & LELO HEX

Sheen endorsed new condom company LELO HEX in a video advertorial that hit the Internet earlier this week.

“I think people associate the word ‘condom’ with less pleasure, with less connection,” Sheen begins. “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. It’s a dialogue that people don’t want to have, it’s uncomfortable, it’s awkward; a lot has to do with that fantasy belief that that can never happen to them. I pretty much felt the same way: That’s stuff for other people.”

In the ad, Sheen goes on to talk about his past wild ways, acknowledging that not practicing safe sex is what resulted in him contracting the HIV virus.

“Things that are most different – things I address health-wise, things that not only can’t I do anymore, but things I choose not to, you now. So there’s great change there. So those are changes I didn’t necessarily come to on my own, but sometimes you have to be guided somewhere to reach a different place, a different reality,” Sheen says. “I sincerely believe in and I can truly support LELO HEX and influence the use of them through my experiences through my life.”

The actor adds, “There’s an odd combination now of people who still want to be like me, experience my life. But, there’s a little detail that they want no part of. So they can avoid that, by using [LELO HEX].”

What Sheen is most proud of is that by coming forward, he has encouraged people to make themselves more knowledgeable about HIV.

“When I went public with my HIV condition, the amount of searches immediately went up by millions, the dialogue started taking place,” he says in the video. “People started coming out of the shadows, and started walking through the fear. That was powerful. When I heard that, I was proud to have turned something that seemed so completely negative and disruptive into change and healing.”