Denise Richards reveals how she told her kids their dad Charlie Sheen had HIV
Lucy Devine
Featured Image Credit: Jim Spellman/WireImage
Denise Richards has revealed how she told her daughters about their father, Charlie Sheen's HIV diagnosis.
Richards and Sheen tied the knot in 2002 before welcoming their daughter, Sami in 2004 and their second daughter, Lola in 2005.
The pair parted ways in 2006 and have co-parented their children ever since.
In 2015, Sheen went public with his diagnosis in an interview with the Today show.
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“I’m here to admit that I am in fact HIV-positive and I have to put a stop to this onslaught, this barrage of attacks and of sub-truths and very harmful stories that I am threatening the health of others, which couldn’t be farther from the truth," he said.
Sheen said he had suffered from 'crushing headaches and insane migraines' as well as night sweats.
“I thought I had a brain tumor. I thought it was over," he added.
Speaking about the moment she heard about Sheen's diagnosis, after he revealed the news on the Today show in 2015, Richards said: “It was everywhere.
“I think I picked them up early from school that day because I didn’t want kids at school to tell them.”
Speaking to Jana Kramer on the Whine Down podcast, Richards added that she was 'kind of upset' with Sheen because she didn't get the heads up beforehand.
"I wish he gave me a heads up, like, ‘Hey, I’m doing it today,’” she said.
Richards said it was tough to explain to her daughters what the diagnosis meant, adding: “I had to have a conversation about that. And it was kind of hard to explain to them what it was. There’s been a few things that I’ve had to have conversations with [them], but for the most part, I really tried to shelter them from a lot of stuff."
Richards explained that while she is friendly with Sheen, their co-parenting relationship isn't overly familiar.
"Truthfully, it wasn't co-parenting. I parent my way. He parents his way, and there was no co-parenting," she explained.
"I have kids with him, and I'm not really — I'm friendly with Charlie, but I wish we were friends and that we could talk all the time and be able to be there really for each other with our girls. But that's just not the relationship we have. Maybe one day. But, I mean right now, there's nothing. There's no discord between he and I, which is great.
"I was always an advocate of wanting everything to be great and be friends and blend the family because he had two boys with his wife after me. I just didn't want the girls to feel like they had to choose sides."
Tyla has reached out to Charlie Sheen's representative for comment.