Charlie Sheen to reveal HIV positive status Live on television show

The actor had known about his illness for over a year but kept it confidential

Los Angeles

: Charlie Sheen is set to make a -"revealing-" personal announcement during a live interview with NBC, the network announced Monday, as celebrity websites reported the US star was HIV-positive.

NBC gave no further details on what the actor, who has long battled drug and alcohol problems, would disclose in the interview to be aired Tuesday morning on the network's -"Today-" show.

But several entertainment news outlets said the actor would say that he is HIV-positive.

The celebrity website TMZ said Sheen, who was fired in 2011 from the top-rated -"Two and a Half Men-" set after a much-publicized spat with Warner Bros. over his behavior, was making his HIV status public because several former partners were threatening him with lawsuits.

TMZ claimed the 50-year-old actor had known about his status for more than a year and had kept it confidential, sharing it only with several friends -- who spread the information.

-"That led to several of Charlie's former partners contacting him and threatening a lawsuit because they were unaware of his status when they had interaction with him,-" TMZ said. -"Our sources say Charlie settled several of the cases and, in return for money, got confidentiality agreements.-"

Sheen, the son of movie star Martin Sheen, rose to fame after starring in a number of hit films including -"Platoon-" and -"Ferris Bueller's Day Off-", both released in 1986.

His career took off further as he became known for his television roles -- -"Spin City-", -"Two and a Half Men-" and most recently -"Anger Management-".

Between May 2010 and 2011, he was the highest paid actor on television, earning $40 million, according to Forbes.

Access Hollywood, a nightly entertainment program, said on its website that Sheen's former wife Denise Richards, with whom he has two daughters, had long known that he was HIV positive.

Quoting a source close to Richards, it said Sheen contracted the virus after the couple divorced in 2006.