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Actor and director Sean Penn has left netizens fuming after a controversial interview with Variety went viral. In the cover story, published this September 2023, the 63-year-old expressed his candid opinions on several subjects, including the Russia-Ukraine war and film studios' proposal to use AI.
Trigger Warning: This article contains references to violent assault and deals with mature themes that may not be appropriate for all. Reader discretion is advised.
While much of Penn's interview was filled with bizarre comments, his opinions about Will Smith's infamous 2022 Oscar slap left the internet calling out his hypocrisy.
In the cover piece, the Into the Wild director vented out his frustrations at the Academy Awards for not allowing his friend and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy to speak at the Oscars in 2022. He claimed that the producers thought he was not "light-hearted enough."
"Well, guess what you got instead? Will Smith!" he exclaimed.
Elaborating on his point, Sean Penn stated that Smith was nice and a good actor and questioned why he would "spit on (himself)" by the slap. He added:
"Why did I go to f*cking jail for what you just did? And you’re still sitting there? Why are you guys standing and applauding his worst moment as a person?"
"Who let him out unattended": Internet users harshly criticize Sean Penn, bring up alleged incident with Madonna
Sean Penn's comment didn't sit well with people as he is associated with violent behavior and has a reportedly abusive past. Netizens specifically brought up his alleged incidents in the 1980s with then-wife Madonna.
In 1987, the 67-year-old allegedly sent the Queen of Pop to the hospital when he hit her in the head with a baseball bat. However, she reportedly refused to file charges as he was already facing 60 days in jail for assaulting a film extra on the set of Colors.
In a separate incident in December 1989, Penn allegedly told Madonna that he owned her, and when she told him she was leaving their house, he allegedly even tried to bind her hands. As she attempted to flee, he reportedly caught her and bound her to a chair. Following this he left for a few hours to buy alcohol.
When he returned, he allegedly continued to terrorize her and only agreed to untie her after she agreed to "perform a degrading s*x act on him." She eventually fled the house to the police who could reportedly hardly recognize her.
It is to be noted that both Madonna and Sean Penn have since denied the abuse allegations. However, many believe that she was coerced by the actor to do the same.
Additionally, Sean Penn also reportedly attacked a pair of journalists in 1985 and another in 1986, for which he was charged with assault. In 2010, an alleged altercation led him to be sentenced to 300 hours of community service.
Comparing his past to Will Smith - who slapped Chris Rock after he made a joke at the expense of his wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith, and her hair loss due to alopecia areata - netizens harshly criticized Sean Penn.
More about Sean Penn's interview with Variety
When questioned about Hollywood producers' desire to scan and record his face and voice to be used for AI, he gave a bizarre response for such filmmakers:
"I want your daughter’s (scans and records), because I want to create a virtual replica of her and invite my friends over to do whatever we want in a virtual party right now."
Adding to his frustrations with Will Smith and the Academy Awards, the Dead Man Walking actor also stated he is convinced he has no choice but to melt his two Oscars and give them to Ukraine so that they can convert them into bullets to shoot the Russians.
Sean Penn has not commented on the criticism.
