Charlie Sheen’s family is here for him during this difficult time, and encouraged him to speak his mind.
Sheen confirmed to Matt Lauer that he was HIV-positive on the Today show earlier this week, and now his father Martin Sheen is speaking out about his son’s confession and courage, according to Naples Daily News.
"He had been leading up to this sort of story for several months, and we kept encouraging him to do it," Martin said. "And he kept backing away and backing away because it was like going to his own execution, I guess.”
Martin spoke about Charlie at the Eighth Annual CME Group's Global Financial Leadership Conference in Naples, Florida on Nov. 17.
"It was the most difficult thing he'd ever done," Martin added.
Martin continued to open up about his son's courage to speak out about his disease.
"I left him a message, and I said that if I had that much courage, I would change the world,” Martin said. “This afternoon, I was still unable to reach him, and I left another message, that my favorite quote from Robert Kennedy was fulfilled with him today. Robert Kennedy once said, 'One heart with courage is a majority.'”
The former West Wing actor also encouraged the crowd to be understanding about Charlie’s confession and other diseases and addictions.
"So, I just want to encourage all of you that have children, spouses, aunts, uncles, clients, that are involved in any form of addiction to realize that it's a disease," he said.