Karl Schmid, the host of “On The Red Carpet” and reporter for ABC7 in Los Angeles who came out as HIV-positive in a viral Facebook post in March, sat down with Megyn Kelly on the TODAY show to talk about being HIV-positive and undetectable with the hope of fighting stigma. Schmid spoke to Kelly about receiving his diagnosis, what it meant to his parents and those around him, and the ongoing battle to fight perceptions about people living with HIV.
Said Schmid to Kelly: “This stigma is real. And it’s unnecessary.”
Said Schmid in a Facebook post: ‘When I was 15 I first came to NYC and remember seeing Rockefeller Center and the NBC peacock and NBC News sign and saying to myself, “one day I’m going to be on The Today Show”. Little did I know 23 years later I would be on The Today Show with Megyn Kelly TODAY…talking about something much bigger than myself (for once)! The fight against HIV stigma. Hopefully I can help start a new conversation about what it means to be HIV+ in 2018. Oh yeah, and I hope I make my mum and dad proud.’
