Charlie Sheen is stepping back into the spotlight — not with controversy, but with candor.

In a raw and revealing new chapter of his life, the 59-year-old actor opens up for the first time about his past s*xual encounters with men, saying he’s done hiding from the truth. Sheen shares his story in two highly anticipated projects: his memoir, The Book of Sheen (out Sept. 9), and the upcoming Netflix documentary aka Charlie Sheen, premiering Sept. 1.

“I’m not going to run from my past, or let it own me,” Sheen tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story. “It happened. I lived it. And now, I’m finally ready to talk about it.”

“It’s F*ing Liberating”**

In the Netflix documentary, Sheen describes the moment of finally speaking publicly about his experiences with men as a profound release.

“It’s fing liberating,” he says. “To just talk about stuff. It’s like a train didn’t come through the side of the restaurant. A fing piano didn’t fall out of the sky. No one ran into the room and shot me.”

For decades, Sheen was one of Hollywood’s most bankable — and scandalous — stars, known for his roles in Platoon, Two and a Half Men, and the public meltdowns that followed his battle with addiction. But behind the tabloid headlines was a more complex truth — one he says he’s finally ready to own.

“Some of It Was Weird. A Lot of It Was Fun.”

Sheen explains that his s*xual exploration with men began during his periods of crack use — a chaotic time that also led to some of the darkest chapters in his life.

“That’s what started it,” he says. “That’s where it was born, or sparked. And in whatever chunks of time that I was off the pipe… trying to come to terms with it — ‘Where did that come from? Why did that happen?’ — and then just finally being like, ‘So what?’”

“Some of it was weird. A lot of it was f***ing fun. And life goes on.”

HIV Diagnosis, Blackmail, and the Road to Recovery

Sheen was diagnosed with HIV during this period, a fact he initially kept secret. But he says some overnight guests would see his medications, take photos, and extort him for money in exchange for silence.

“I paid them at first,” he admits. “Then I went public.” Sheen disclosed his diagnosis in 2015 on the Today show.

He insists he never transmitted the virus to anyone: “I do know for a fact that I never passed it on.”

No More Secrets, No More Shame

Now, Sheen says he’s telling his story — uncensored and unfiltered.

“I didn’t want to censor anything. The stories I can remember, anyway,” he jokes. “It’s just time to tell the truth. The whole thing. All of it.”

Although the memoir and documentary cover painful territory, Sheen is clear that he’s not looking for sympathy or excuses.

“I don’t want to play the victim. It takes two to tango.”

A Quieter Life, But Open to Love Again

Today, Sheen lives a much quieter life away from Hollywood’s chaos. He’s been single for years, following two turbulent divorces from actresses Denise Richards and Brooke Mueller.

“My romantic life is as uneventful as it possibly could be, and it’s been that way for a long time,” he says. “But I’m open to love again. Probably not marriage, though!”

With The Book of Sheen and his Netflix documentary, the actor seems to be rewriting his legacy — not by running from scandal, but by reclaiming his truth.