Jenny McCarthy ruffled feathers with her “ick” comment after Charlie Sheen‘s frank admission of being HIV positive (as revealed on Tuesday’s episode of Today). Sheen is presumably busy at this point dictating a newly announced memoir and living life. McCarthy is still angered over his lack of disclosure to love interests on Two and a Half Men. She’s ignoring his manager’s claim that he had not yet contracted HIV while working on the show.
Another issue with McCarthy’s rant is that people don’t take her seriously (and tend to crack anti-vax jokes). Her entire persona remains inseparable from her very public comments on vaccination. In addition, saying “ick” about HIV is an unsavory remark that won’t win any new fans. So, when McCarthy tried to illustrate her point about how she disclosed her cold sores in a work environment, people were not sympathetic. Now McCarthy has elaborated further on her perspective (which she explains as a “double standard”) on her Twitter page:
“The point I raised about Charlie Sheen on my Sirius radio show, had nothing to do with whether or not I think he put me at risk. I simply took issue with a double standard in the industry. Every actress (and actor for that matter) must disclose hundreds of personal health matters before ever being allowed to set foot on a film set. Yet an actor who interacts physically with dozens of actresses in intimate scenes, is not required to disclose that he has HIV?
“I am very aware that HIV is not spread through kissing, but I also believe that if an actress has to disclose all of her business before kissing a male costar, that actor should be required to disclose something [as] major as an HIV infection too. His disclosures in his personal life are none of my business, and are for him to reconcile with the people he interacted with privately. I am not one of them.”
McCarthy claims to be aware of the fact that HIV can’t be passed by kissing, but she’s on the defense. She’s taking the double-standard approach to retroactively justify her point. Is she helping or hurting herself here? Cold sores are very easily spread by kissing. There’s no way around that fact. It’s also not potentially career damaging to have to disclose cold sores, which are extremely common.
Even if Sheen did have HIV when he kissed McCarthy, there wouldn’t have been a risk to her health. She’s also looking inconsistent with such a hands-off approach to HIV when she opposes vaccination (and is willing to take that risk). Her new comments have not helped her case. Here’s a comparison of the comments she received immediately prior to her clarification:
The irony is, if someone invented an HIV vaccine, Jenny McCarthy would be telling people not to take it.
— Ken Tremendous (@KenTremendous) November 19, 2015
https://twitter.com/LaurenDeStefano/status/667381455077695488
https://twitter.com/Diane_7A/status/667452520860618753
Why do they keep writing "Jenny McCarthy" in news headlines? Big typo. Her name is "Measles Magoo." (Thank you, @GailSimone)
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) November 19, 2015
The “after” set of replies shows that her elaboration didn’t work magic.
https://twitter.com/DjDrewG/status/667609963863261184
@JennyMcCarthy What an incredibly sensitive way to treat someone going through a shit time! Perhaps refrain from ANY medical commenting?
— Sarah Coma (@sarah_coma) November 20, 2015
@JennyMcCarthy You can't get HIV from a kiss.You CAN get Herpes from kissing, so you put @charliesheen life at risk with that cold-sore.Cow.
— Ben LaMaster (@ben_lamaster) November 20, 2015
Jenny McCarthy says Sheen should've disclosed HIV status when ACTING w/her
Man, I'm guessing science wasn't her strongest subject in school
— Noah Kinsey (@thenoahkinsey) November 20, 2015
https://twitter.com/stupidskeleton/status/667603773179731968
(Via Jenny McCarthy on Twitter)
