In September, Lee Daniels was chatting to The Hollywood Reporter about the long-standing arrest record and extensive, documented history of Empire star Terrence Howard’s physical abuse of women. Daniels defended Howard, saying that his history is no different than the history of men like “Marlon Brando or Sean Penn.” A week later, Sean Penn sued Daniels for defamation. A lot of us were like, “Hey, isn’t it pretty easy to prove that Sean Penn is a violent predator who has abused at least one of his ex-wives?” Turns out, it’s not as easy to prove as people originally thought.
While there were always tons of rumors and reports about Sean physically abusing Madonna during their brief, painful marriage, we soon found out that there was little evidence to back up those stories/rumors. Authorities in California (where Madonna and Penn lived during their marriage) said they had no record of Madonna filing any police reports or anything like that. And now, as part of Penn’s defamation lawsuit, Madonna has made a declaration to the court, saying that Penn never abused her.
Some rumors take a few decades to put to rest. In support of Sean Penn in his defamation lawsuit against Lee Daniels, Madonna stated in a court declaration that he never physically abused her during their famously tumultuous marriage.
“While we certainly had more than one heated argument during our marriage, Sean has never struck me, ‘tied me up,’ or physically assaulted me, and any report to the contrary is completely outrageous, malicious, reckless and false,” the singer stated, per court documents filed in New York State Supreme Court today and obtained by E! News.
She also states that reports of an alleged 1987 incident in which he struck her with a bat are “completely outrageous, malicious, reckless and false”; and she called allegations that a December 1989 incident that “purportedly resulted in Sean’s arrest” were also false.
In his filing today, Penn objects to Daniels’ claim that his right to free speech protects what he said.
“Unfortunately for Daniels, his statements–which by direct reference to Howard’s misconduct, falsely accuse Penn of committing serious, multiple crimes against women–are not protected the First Amendment,” Penn’s filing argues. “Contrary to Daniels’ false accusations, Penn has never struck or physically abused any woman, including his ex-wife Madonna,” the amended complaint continues.
In addition to his acting and filmmaking prowess, Penn has been known for having a temper, particularly around paparazzi. But Madonna, who was married to the Oscar winner from 1985 until 1989, swears that images can be deceiving.
“I have known Sean Penn for over thirty years,” the Rebel Heart artist states. “Over the decades, I have known Sean to be a caring, compassionate individual, as well as an extremely talented actor, creative artist and philanthropist.”
If we go back over every single statement Madonna has ever made about Sean Penn in the past 30 years, will her story be consistent? Probably not. I think Penn has made a real effort to reconnect with her over the past several years, and their new friendship has put a love-haze all over their tumultuous past. That being said, and this is something I said in the original Lee Daniels story – Sean Penn is no Terrence Howard. He never was. Terrence Howard has a long, well-documented history of violence towards women (more often than not, his intimate partners). For Lee Daniels to compare Sean Penn and Terrence Howard was always absurd. But! I don’t really blame Lee Daniels for believing the long-standing rumors about Penn’s assault(s) on Madonna, because seriously, so many people believed those stories. Also: I wonder if Charlize Theron will be making a similar declaration to the court?
Photos courtesy of Getty, WENN, Fame/Flynet.
Very disappointed with you, Madonna.
+1.
I doubt Sean Penn is going to win this lawsuit.
Lee Daniels never actually said he was a woman beater. The writer of the article said Daniels was alluding to it.
In NYC, where this is filed, you have to prove malice and negligence.
There was no malice towards Sean Penn. It was really about Daniels saying white actors get away with being out of control.
Sean Penn appeared out of control in the 80s. Many news reports said he was an abuser and a drug addict. Did he sue them for Defamation and win?
Also, Daniels did not originate these rumors, but merely repeating what he has either read or been told. I find Sean Penn to be a jerk and side eye to Charlize Theron for letting him touch her.
+ 1 to DenIseMich and to Kaiser for that ‘love haze,’ commentary – that is spot on.
I was around back then and I certainly recall the volatile Sean – did Madonna get a slap or a shake? Who knows? BUT I wouldn’t be willing to bet my house that she did not. Sorry Madge.
But it’s nice they’re newfound besties.
Congrats to Charlize for her fine job of ghosting Penn so thoroughly. Wouldn’t it be a riot if Robin Wright countered with a different account than Madge’s?
So Madonna waited almost 30 years to tell the world those rumors aren’t true?
That’s what I thought. That’s quite a cloud she allowed to hang over him.
This was all pre-internet so I wouldn’t be surprised if money passed hands so the complaint, which was dropped, was “lost.” They even had a direct quote from a sheriff…and I’m wondering if TMZ will go find him unless money (or a deal) once again is passing hands.
IIRC, the details made it into newspapers, so even if the report was scrubbed, it’s possible to look up old school microfiche news articles of the period.
Lol @LAK..dang ‘microfiche,’ I feel so old. Hahaha.
It’s only been in the last year or so that those stories have gone semi-mainstream. Even now it’s news to a lot of otherwise gossip-savvy people every time it’s mentioned somewhere. It was briefly a story at the time, but they ended on very bad terms and I doubt Madonna was inclined to correct the record back then. It wasn’t necessary really anyway, pre-internet unless a story snowballed out of control (eg. Gere and the gerbil), it would just go away on it’s own. This story did go away for a long time.
Except this was mainstream at the time and made it into major newspapers and was a huge escandalo back in the day. That’s why Madonna never clearly denying it is strange. I had no clue but my Mom told me about reading it in the papers.
I remember reading about it in the National Enquirer, which was what we bought back then to get gossip from the US over here in Europe. The story was out there for sure.
I know, as I said it was a story at the time. I remember it. It was a big thing for a couple of weeks, Penn softly denied it without making a big thing of it, it faded away and after a few months it was pretty much forgotten by all but a few. Back then it wasn’t as normal for celebs to respond to tabloid stories as the magazines would be thrown out and people would lose interest, and it would just go away on it’s own 99% of the time. The tabloids printed some truly outlandish crap back then and for the most part it didn’t seem like celebs took it as seriously.
Until very recently this story hadn’t come up again outside of rather niche gossip forums for well over a two decades.
For a lot of people I’m not sure it ever did go away, I think it’s played a large part in how Sean Penn is viewed by the public (jerk).
His name became sort of synonymous with violently lashing out at photogs/media/papz – and coupled with the Madonna stories, and the inferences he put Wright thru hell, it’s painted a very volatile picture.
Age has mellowed him it seems, but you still see the remnants and legacy of anger like his kid recently calling a black paparazzo the n-word and threatening violence.
Not too hard to figure out where the tendency to fly off the handle and be a jerk, came from.
Just because something is rumored to have happened, doesn’t mean it did. The press wasn’t a big fan of Penn back in the day, if I remember correctly.
The National Enquirer occasionally got it right, but they printed sooooooo many things that were completely 100% fabricated, and also a ton of things that were exaggerated or misrepresented.
No way, I was born in the mid to late 80s and I’ve known the stories about Sean Penn allegedly abusing Madonna for as long as I can remember. And I couldn’t care less about either of them, so it’s not like I sought it out.
My first thought as well.
She apparently denied it in a rolling some interview from 1989.
Not that I support that rouged jerky of a man. I still believe he is abusive just maybe not Terrece Howard level of abusive.
http://jezebel.com/after-years-of-silence-madonna-denies-allegations-that-1748593381
The thing is Jezebel weirdly leaves out the rest of the interview where they directly ask her about filing a complaint (which was apparently a different incident) and that she doesn’t deny or confirm. I used to love Jezebel but they’ve been slacking lately ….
She didn’t deny the 1987 incident in the RS interview she denied the later incident when tabloids claimed he tied her up and held her against her will for nine hours.
But if she has already said they “completely make sh*t up” does she really need to continue to repeat again the abuse didn’t happen?
The jezebel comments really bugged me, if you dont believe she’s being 100% honest its because youre some woman hating mysoginist, because women are never believed. Fact is Penn has a history of this kind of behavior and its well documented. theyre not willing to even consider that this is coming from a woman who is still clearly emotionally invested and possibly manipulated by a man who abused her.
comment removed.
Madge is in love with him. He would never step to Charlize.
I read the Rolling Stone interview she did twenty odd years ago and while she says the tabloid rumors about the baseball bat are false…..when the reporter presses her she refuses to deny or confirm that she filed a report (about a different incident) that was later dropped. The Guardian says she did go to the Malibu Sheriff, filed a complaint and Sean was charged but the charges were dropped after Madonna withdrew her complaint a week later…and they aren’t the only legitimate news source reporting it that way. So it seems like something did “happen” or else a lot of legitimate news sources, which are reporting her filing a complaint as a fact and not an allegation, are dead wrong. I hate to think that Madonna is lying but those stories combined with her references to Sean being her soulmate make me think she’s covering for him…and that it will backfire because TMZ will manage to dig something up.
At the very least, it should go to prove that Lee Daniels had a good faith basis for making that claim.
As for the claim that Terrence Howard should not be compared to Sean Penn, they both sound like POS, so the comparison is apt.
Good faith basis for making that claim about Penn? So if a rumour has been around long enough, we should all just take it as fact, is what you are saying. So I guess you’d still claim that Richard Gere must be ramming rodents in his behind because the rumours of that were so persistent?! Your logic fail is staggering here. I know you guys all hate Sean Penn, along with a whole list of other celebrities you love to hate, but use your brains. Seems like on this site if the negative story is about Taylor Swift or Sean Penn you’ll all attest to its veracity but if it’s about Rihanna or Adele, it can’t possibly be true. Spare me.
I actually think Terrence Howard is bipolar or suffering some other mental illness that requires meds (shia LaBeouf also). Anyone who’s read Terrence’s recent RS interview knows he’s got some mental issues.
I’m not saying mental illness excuses or is the reason behind his violence towards women. He could still be violent sans mental illness. But it’s very obvious he does have a disorder of some kind and that *could * explain his violence/aggression issues.
I don’t know if Sean does or not.
BossyKat, i would assume that if terrence was bipolar, that there’d be instances of violence outside his intimate relationships.
@moo moo
How do you know he hasn’t? Howard, some say, has a history of unnecessarily burning bridges with colleagues, industry people, co-workers and ‘friends,’ that aren’t necessarily considered ‘intimate relationships.’
Bipolarism doesn’t mean you lose all sense of reason, it most likely means that those that you know and have frustration/resentment/anger towards get it 10x worse when you’re in the throes (an ex. I gave yesterday was a former manager who would shove direct reports into conference rooms)
Because you lash out with a burst of anger towards a friend, doesn’t mean you’d pick a fight with your boss. But you might uncontrollably bad mouth him and end up getting fired.
Textbook Terrence.
Sirsnarks wrote, “if a rumour has been around long enough, we should all just take it as fact”
That disturbs me as well.
@Sirsnarksalot, “Good faith basis for making that claim about Penn? So if a rumour has been around long enough, we should all just take it as fact, is what you are saying.” No, I think that what Santia is saying is that if there were complaints filed and news stories publicizing these allegations at the time, there would be no way Daniels could reasonably be expected to assume they were not true. Even if they allegations are false, he is still obviously not the source of the allegations.
I read that RS article and she did adamantly deny the allegations but suddenly became very evasive when asked about filing a police report. If she didn’t file one why not just say that?
Perhaps she DID file, and lied.
I didn’t know about this Sean Penn/Madonna situation until recently so I’m not invested either way. What does strike me is the police report/account. Was it all made up? Where did those police quotes come from? Does that police officer really exist (Lieutenant Bill McSweeney)?
I mean, they (allegedly) have a named police officer making statements that are quite damning. This doesn’t seem like standard gossip that could be true or a bunch of cr@p. Where did all that information come from?
ETA:
May things were exaggerated in the media (???), but it does seem as if *something* happened.
http://www.upi.com/Archives/1989/01/10/Madonna-filed-criminal-complaint-against-Penn/2734600411600/
Right. And she’s setting a poor example for her daughter. She needs to come clean. Was she ever abused? If not, why did she file that report? Was she lying then or is she lying now?
Well the report from the link by PRINCESSME states that Madonna filed charges and then withdrew them but it also says that he spent 60 days in jail for beating up an extra.
I was never too much for gossip back then but I remember multiple incidents of Penn being physical in different situations.
Madonna does a disservice to victims of physical abuse. I’m glad she has a new respect for him but she shouldn’t change her story just because their relationship is better now.
Very dissapointed in her.
The thing about SP/Madonna’s alleged altercation, it’s been very, VERY consistent. The details have never changed over the years as these things tend to do over time.
Or is it that they are friends now, and since she never pressed charges so the whole thing is simply a rumour now.
She didn’t deny it when it started. And why would anyone make up such a vicious rumour?
Someone needs to dig out the police report.
They really do need to find it. I have a hard time believing that multiple legitimate print news sources, especially back in the day when there was more fact-checking, would print such a story that could open them up to a lawsuit if the police report was fabricated.
Exactly.
She has denied a few things over the years eg. that he never hit her with a baseball bat as was claimed, that he didn’t sexually assault her or hold her hostage etc. She’s never said none of it happened (I highly suspect she’s lying now when she says he’s never struck her), but she has denied the more extreme parts of the story before.
In the immediate aftermath of the Rhianna/Chris Brown incident there were lots of embellished stories coming out in the press. Brown biting her turned into Brown bit off her ear or a chunk of her nose, things like that. For whatever reason, when something awful happens, there are people out there who feel compelled to add a whole other layer of awfulness on top.
“Penn was extremely violent toward his ex-wife Madonna when the two were married in the 1980s. Once, in June 1987, he allegedly caused the pop superstar to be hospitalized after hitting her across the head with a baseball bat. But Madonna, who remained protective of her husband, refused to press charges since Penn was already facing 60 days in jail for assaulting a film extra.
Things got even uglier on December 28, 1989. According to a police report filed by Madonna, Penn scaled their Malibu home that afternoon, found Madonna alone in her bedroom, and told her that he owned her “lock, stock, and barrel.”
According to reports, “When she told him she was leaving the house, he tried to bind her hands with an electric lamp and cord. Screaming and afraid, Madonna fled from the bedroom. What followed was a nine-hour ordeal which left her deeply shaken. Penn chased her into the living room, caught her and bound her to a chair with heavy twine. Then he threatened to cut off her hair.”
He allegedly “smacked and roughed up” Madonna while she was tied to a chair, and then left for a few hours to buy more booze—leaving his then-wife bound and gagged—only to return and continue terrorizing her. He only agreed to untie her after she “agreed to perform a degrading sex act on him,” and then fled the house, got in her car, and raced to the sheriff’s office—eventually stumbling inside.
“I hardly recognized her as Madonna,” Lt. Bill McSweeney said at the time. “She was weeping, her lip was bleeding and she had obviously been struck.”
Penn was charged with felony domestic assault, but Madonna told the DA to drop the charges against him. He eventually pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor, and the pop star split from Penn shortly thereafter.”
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/02/23/twitter-turns-on-abuser-sean-penn-following-his-oscars-green-card-joke.html
Wow @kylie – I sure would like to hear from Lt. Bill McSweeney today.
Madonna may regret this.
My feeling is, if she ever got deposed she’d have to come clean or be faced with perjury charges. Or maybe she’d fall on the sword for him.
Sad, what an example for Lourdes..who by the way should steer clear of Uncle Sean. She looks so much like Madge he might have flashbacks.
Kylie
This all day!
The behavior at the time. The parts that are documented as known. The behavior post event in the following years. None of it says this didn’t happen. Or soemthing close to that level of threat didn’t happen.
People often do not want charges filed in both cases where citizens are private or public figures because as a survivor you are then exposed. You want it to just go away.
From SP’s later image of being aggressive to say the least to his partners i’d say if this were true Madonna could have helped him a lot, but denying this outright much sooner.
But I was always under the impression that there were police reports about an assault, but Madonna declined to press charges? I thought some website had the actually report?
I’ve seen a couple people claim that the report was on Smoking Gun at one point but now isn’t there.
I saw that report years ago. As I understand it, the cops are disavowing it. If it didnt originate from the police, Madonna is saying it didnt happen, Sean is saying it diddnt happen and none of their old entourage is disputing this, then it must have been cooked.
Naya, I wonder if people are confused because Madonna once gave an interview where she denied the baseball bat incident but then refused to confirm or deny filing a complaint even after they pressed her on it and then never talked about it until now. Also, wouldn’t the press release mention that there was a doctored police report that the cops disavowed rather than pretend it didn’t exist? I feel bad for Sean if this is untrue but after all the stuff…..from a sheriff on record to legitimate news sources to how Madonna never denied the complaint until now….well I’m suspicious and I wouldn’t be surprised if TMZ managed to dig something up.
Mere conjecture on my part; she says there was no violence but admits there were crazy arguments, and refuses to comment on calling the cops then perhaps she did ring the cops during an argument. People arent exactly thinking about wasting police time during a heated argument. Again just guessing in light of the new info.
IF theres something out there that will settle it, I hope TMZ or Lee Daniels team finds it. In the meantime, I cant in good conscience hold something this flimsy against him. I save my venom for people who score higher on the suspect scale.
me too, when i read this i was thinking but isnt there a written statement about it all?
Terrence Howard is in her music video for Ghosttown. Lol!
Is that a new video since this Lee Daniel’s mess?!
*record scratch* really, Madonna? This is like Stockholm Syndrome.
I wonder what the law will have to say about this. I thought if you read the original interview, Daniels says that these are men who have been accused of assault against women… One was arrested (Howard), the other was not. Is that defamation, really?
So, if he had said Mike Tyson’s situation with Robyn Givens (alleged) is like Sean Penn’s situation with Madonna, in that we both forgave these men for their alleged crimes against women, despite their other violent altercations (and rape in the case of Tyson) that landed them in prison, it would have been ok and not defamatory at all?
From what I understand it’s only defamation if the person making the statement knew it was untrue. If he believed his statement was true he wasn’t defaming anyone. Add to that, Penn would have to prove he suffered some kind of financial damage due to the statement. These stories have been around for decades. I can’t see how he could seriously claim he’s been financially damaged by this one quote and not all the other articles that have been written.
It’s not just that he didn’t know it was not true, although that is a part of it, but Sean is a public figure and defamation of a public figure also has bit more to prove especially with damages. How did this interview damage Sean Penn to the 10 million dollar range? It was already out there and Sean had done nothing legally to correct it earlier, and this was just a one comment more about the judicial system and African Americans. Why sue now? This would have died pretty easily if he had done nothing. The damage is from Sean Penn suing the only African American guy who made the claim that a bunch of people in the world thought was true. Look at this website for example. Sean gave it the publicity not Daniels.
Aside from the fact that it won’t be needed, I think Madonna doesn’t make a credible witness. If he has to prove Sean’s violent tendency just show a bunch of videos of him attacking paparazzi over the years. Howard had a reasonable expectation that the stories were true, especially considering Sean never sued before to correct it. I am not sure what is up with him as this just seems really stupid. I also think it paints Penn in a bad light instead of correcting something. After his green card comment at the Oscars he now sues one of the few African American Directors who has had success in Hollywood for a comment made by many others. Makes him seem a bit of a racist to me.
Exactly. This story about Sean Penn beating up Madonna has been in several biographies about Madonna and even made its way into one of Warren Beatty’s biographies. The story has been repeated ad nauseum every single time anyone brings up the Sean Penn-Madonna relationship. I’ve seen it in several newspaper and magazine articles. Penn never sued even though he knew it was out there.
I don’t see how Sean Penn can win this lawsuit. Defamation is very hard to prove here in the States and the standards are very high. He would have to prove Lee Daniels knew the story was untrue and maliciously repeated it in the interview. The story has been around for nearly 30 years and Penn never sued any of Madonna’s biographers who claimed he did beat her. Everyone in Hollywood has heard these stories and neither Madonna or Penn has ever defended themselves against these stories until now (well, Madonna gave that VERY vague interview to Rolling Stone in 1989 where she really didn’t deny the allegations outright).
I’m pretty sure Lee Daniels assumed this story was true and there is no way you can prove otherwise.
@noway:
Agree 100%. It is very fishy he sues Lee Daniels yet never sued anyone else. I hope Daniels’ attorney asks him why he never sued anyone else but sued him.
I doubt Daniel’s attorney will get the chance to ask about why this suit. This case is very flimsy. I just did a quick google search on Madonna and Sean Penn abuse and tons of articles came up from the Huffington Post, Seattle Times, NY Post, Daily Beast etc not just a few. It’s not willful disregard for the truth if you can do a simple google search and get many legitimate news organizations with this assertion. Some articles during the time, some in the 2000’s. I think Sean is just trying to get it out there that he didn’t do this, because I can’t believe any attorney would think he could win. I think this is backfiring, because it doesn’t seem like people are believing Madonna and he is garnering more attention to his past which was violent even if he didn’t abuse Madonna. He did hit several people and served jail time for it.
@noway a Google search isn’t a defense. You can literally google anything and get a bunch of results. It doesn’t mean anything in your google search is true. Obviously Lee Daniels thought these allegations were true that’s why he repeated them. It was still foolish of him to invoke Penn’s name in a misguided attempt to defend Terrence Howard.
Not exactly a defense, and keep in mind this is not a criminal case. No one will be criminally proving Sean Penn is a domestic abuser, even if he loses this case. As a public figure and as the plaintiff Penn needs to establish among other things either that Daniels knew it was false, which is almost impossible to prove unless he said that to someone else, I think that one is out. Second that he willingly disregarded the truth. Meaning the average person couldn’t possibly believe Penn abused any of his wives before Daniels made his comment, if that is how Daniel’s lawyer want to go with what Daniel’s meant in the interview. Well if many news outlets, like Huffington Post, Daily Beast, Seattle Times, NY Daily News, in addition to biographies by relatives and others all speak about it, all that I found on a google search, but looked at the source. I just remembered the National Enquirer and some article at a NY magazine at the time, but there was a lot more. In addition to Penn never suing till now, I don’t think you can say Daniels willingly disregarded the truth. Seems more like Penn never set the record straight, even if you believe him. As both him and Madonna were pretty quiet about this until now. There are so many ways you could go to defend this if you are Daniel’s lawyers. He didn’t really outright say Penn was an abuser either. Now a pure defense to all defamation is that the statement is true. Although I doubt Daniel’s lawyers will go that way as there are too many easier avenues to take.
Wow. Sean must be layin’ that pipe. I guess good d*** will make you misremember a lot.😒
What a visual. My brain hurts.
Aaagh, this story pi$$es me WAAAYYYY off.
Because…. Sean Penn is being a bully… again.
$10 million?? For something quite frankly, we have all thought was true for over 20 years??
I don’t point my finger at Madonna… I get her in a sort of a way. She’s in her 50s and she’s slowed down about grudges in the past… She’s over it and they are friends and Sean is in turn asking for her help as a newly reunited friends. I get why she would want to help him out to maintain good vibes between them.
Also Sean’s statement by his lawyer states the following:
“Penn’s lawsuit acknowledges that while he has “had several brushes with the law, Penn (unlike Howard) has never been arrested, much less convicted, for domestic violence, as his ex-wives (including Madonna) would confirm and attest.”
Just look at that wording!!!
Ok, so since Howard was convicted of such and Sean hasn’t means… Of course… No aggression was showed.
I just hope Lee Daniels wins and crushes this bully. Who is honing in on him and looking past… well… everyone else who has implied the same
Magic Dong or not, the guy attached to it…. is a bully
Just ask Charlize
I’m not a fan of either man but really……… to compare the two men in a game of ” who’s the biggest abuser” is dumb, the law suit is dumb. Daniels was speaking about the allegations that where put out there, and if Madonna knew they weren’t true she should have said something to clear him years ago. It didn’t cause Penn and damages, he just dislike the statement. It was something floating around for years, If he didn’t like what he said I’m sure he could have talked to him man to man and worked it out. IMO
Honestly they’re both abusive trash with an history of violence to me.
I feel bad for Sean now. I remember reading that police report and being extremely upset at him, and at the people around him and Madonna that stood by. Now we find out somebody faked a police report and left it in circulation for 30 years?! Thats just straight up evil. I’m guessing it would be one of the many papparazzi he crossed paths with over the years.
Anyway, Lee Daniels continues to be an asshat. I dont know how what other celebrities did has any bearing on your personal responsibilty not to build a show around a nutjob like Terrence Howard.
You feel bad for Sean Penn, Jesus Christ!
This asshole is known for his abusing behaviour. Madonna is just cleaning up for him since her career is over and she doesn’t want to be seen as submissive and his victim.
That man is not innocent.
I didnt say he wasnt a douche bag, he still beat up paps frequently aside from this Madonna drama. But I am also not an irrational hater. If theres no evidence, no complainant, no witnesses, nothing but a now discredited report, what the hell do you base that “known abuser” claim on. Neither Robin, nor Scarjo, nor Charlize have intimated physical abuse either. So which partners exactly has he been beating? Not an angry question, just a genuine “explain to me in rational terms why you are still pushing this?” question. Does this mean that if you start a story about some unlikeable dude, he should be burdened with suspicion forever – even as we find zero evidence to corroborate? Something similar happened to one of Halles exes, forced to clear his name over completely uncorroborated rumors, I mean not even Halle had accused the guy.
Her own brother said he was abusive and he had to protect her from Sean. According to Christopher, Madonna labeled him a ‘paranoid control freak’. Yet she always kept running back to him until she couldn’t take it anymore.
No biography ever denied the assault happened either and neither did the police. Pretty sure they even confirmed it as news outlets were quickly aware of what happened.
Looked it up and yup, police confirmed it:
Lieut Bill McSweeny said: ‘I hardly recognised her as Madonna. She was weeping, her lip was bleeding and she had obviously been struck.’
Penn was taken away in handcuffs and charged with inflicting ‘corporal injury and traumatic conditions’ on her, as well as committing ‘battery’.
A week later, Madonna called her lawyers and told them to file divorce papers. Yet she also told Deputy District Attorney Lauren Weiss she wished to withdraw the assault charges against her husband.
The problem was not the publicity – the scandal was in all the papers. It seems she just couldn’t bear to see Penn thrown into jail. She still believed that he was the love of her life, and she tortured herself wondering to what extent she was to blame for the abuse.
The source is Dailymail but the same thing is more extensively explained in one of Madonna’s biography by Taraborelli who researched the original report. He DID assault Madonna and it wasn’t the first time as per her own brother’s account.
Madonnas brother never said he beat her in his book. He said the dude was a control freak…..which should be news to nobody! Chris is hardly a credible Madonna source anyway, once she closed her purse he went on a story selling spree. I remember him on Howard claiming that Warren was probably trying to get him into bed and IIRC Guy made Madonna homophobic.
The way news works is that one outlet runs a story and others very often pick it up, rearrange the language, add a new possibly fake titbit and run the story. Thats especially true for tabloids but mainstream outlets do it too. Look up the Matrix plagiarism hoax or for serious news the Niger yellow cake story. If indeed that Sheriff even existed and he actually did say those words then Lee Daniels team will raise it. If it doesnt come up, then you’ll know a lazy journo picked up a hoax and run it without researching it – again not at all unusual.
Further downthread I explain what he wrote. He had to lock Madonna in his room because Sean was raging and breaking furniture and yelling abuse. You know what I’m talking about, don’t be deliberately obtuse. Christopher wouldn’t lie about that. I don’t know who it was but some actor said that Madonna and Christopher were extremely close back in the day. Plus you are conveniently leaving out all the other sources I mentioned who do confirm the assault happened. And the press who picked it up first was the Associated Press, not exactly OK magazine or some other rag tabloid now is it?
Artemis- her brother witnessed extreme and scary behavior but not actually his sister getting hit. Some men respond very violently to other men but don’t hit women. It’s a socialization thing, and also the male idea of a “fair fight”. They can do everything but – such as throwing and breaking objects, verbal abuse etc. which would be enough for me to run fast in the other direction permanently after getting a restraining order… So it’s possible that his violence was verbal or directed at things rather than at any women in his life. Madonna very clearly testified in an affidavit that he never struck her. I don’t think she ever claimed that he did in any unofficial public statements either. So maybe he really didn’t.
Why would anyone fake a police report about Sean Penn? He was was punk actor (in the says when that was meant to b insulting), definitely not worth all that effort.
On th one hand, the LAPD were known to be extremely corrupt, yet you are saying that a definitive case of of falsified police report from a discredited police force and he never bothered to sue?
“Why would anyone fake a police report about Sean Penn?”
Sean wasnt merely a punk actor in the 80s. He was widely touted as the best actor of his generation. He was the son of a very highly respected director. He oscillated around the brat pack members. He was married to the biggest pop star in the world. And he was constantly on the evening news for run ins with the law for pullling the stupidest stupid moves a celebrity could pull. Middle America detested him and the hipster crowd thought he was a tormented genius. This wasnt just some Bieber-level irritation, he wasnt just egging houses and pissing in buckets, the guy aimed a riffle at a helicopter for godsakes. He had enemies, is what I am saying. From paps, to Madonnas super fans when they broke up, to people who detest entitled celebs, to random kids with spare time on their hands. If you are looking for suspects over who would write a fake report and watch it turn to an urban legend, stand in the middle of a street and throw a stone.
If you ever have a spare a hour, go to Snopes and read up on urban legends, how they start, how they proliferate and how hard it is to extract yourself once you are in.
As for why he didnt challenge it, could be a number of things. This wasnt in the public arena by any means – none of the people here in the room I am now sitting had heard the rumor. This was something that lived in small corners of the internet. You challenge something like that and you are risking the Streisand effect. Lee Daniels statement made it sound like an undisputed fact, so obviously the game has changed. OR maybe he has just grown tired of the bs, like Halles ex-husband did a few months ago. It would really take a leap to say that all the parties involved, including former employees, are lying and the cops are in cahoots with no evidence whatsoever to corroborate anything you are alleging.
This is from a 1989 Rolling Stone interview with Madonna.
Interviewer: But you did file and later drop charges with the Malibu police, right?
Madonna: [Pauses] I understand your position. People want to hear the dirt. But this is not really anything I want to talk about here. It’s totally unfair to Sean, too. I have great respect for him. It’s like most relationships that fail. It’s not one thing, it’s many thing that go on over a period of time.
Notice she never says she didn’t file a report. If she didn’t all she had to do was say she didn’t. Instead she avoids the question.
As for why he didnt challenge it, could be a number of things. This wasnt in the public arena by any means – none of the people here in the room I am now sitting had heard the rumor. This was something that lived in small corners of the internet.
The news outlets back in the day were ALL over the assault. She was asked on several occassions to comment, even in respectable magazines (I think it was Vanity Fair but not sure).
When Madonna started becoming very friendly again with Penn (2013) and when her son hung out with him it was claimed they were trying to get back together and articles about ‘how could Madonna go back to the man that beat her’ popped up. I think it’s because many just don’t care about Madonna anymore that they don’t pay attention to it but it is not a secret at all.
The assault between these 2 megastars is a fixture in pop culture. I didn’t have internet when I was a teenager (2004-2005) and quickly found out what happened as it was in some Belgian magazine and then I read a few biographies were it also was discussed extensively.
Madonna played coy about the verity of the assualt for almost 3 decades and Penn just ignored it because he COULD. Now that he needs support, Madonna is finally commenting on it, too bad it’s a lie.
Naya: I was a teenbopper in the 80s. Completely enthralled to Madonna and her life. I was signed up to her fan club and devoured everything about her. On top of which we were avid devours of movies. We spent so many afternoons at any cinema we could sneak in to, devoured all the hollywood gossip and we’re the 80s equivalent of Twihards, but for Music, film and art.
This was a huge scandal at the time.
What you’ve written about Sean Penn isn’t the reality of the 80s. Yes he was famous, but no where near the level you describe. He was more famous for his temper and ran in with the paps.
His biggest hit was FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH in 1982 and after that he was a support or blink and you miss him uncredited actor or headlining flops eg SHANGHAI SURPRISE. All the films in between were headlined by much bigger actors eg Tom Cruise or long established actors eg Robert Duvall. Sean Penn wasn’t the stellar actor of current standing. Madonna raised his profile. The stellar acting in stellar films didn’t start until 1989 by which time they’d divorced. One thing was very clear, he was a serious person who took himself very seriously.
Everything you’ve written about him as far as his craft and standing in the community came after 1989. The rest is simply your conjecture influenced by his current standing.
There was absolutely no need to falsify a police report for Sean Penn in the 80s. There were so many more interesting, famous actors to talk about and obsess over, outside of the Brat Pack.
Sean Penn *wanted* to be taken seriously. That was his primary objection to all the paps. The fact was that he wasn’t. So he hang out with actors seen as super cool eg Denis Hopper. In the same manner that Johnny Depp hang out with Brando in order to seem more interesting.
I think Naya is mad because it’s clear that Penn asked for Madonna’s support despite the assault ‘living in small corners’. He never cared until the Lee Daniel’s lawsuit that much is clear. And Madonna, who did get badgered with questions after the incident and the marriage, is only NOW speaking in clear terms after decades of playing coy. It’s not in Madonna’s nature to just pick up things from the past, she moves on and only shows the press what she wants but with Sean, the abuse cycle is strong. Clearly. Always and forever protecting him and being friends with him.
This is where time does have a tendency to merge things together, especially for those who didn’t live during it or were young. Although, even the ones who did it seems to be a blur too. I was in high school and college in the 80’s so the college especially is a blur, but yes Sean wasn’t at that time the best of the his generation, I think that came later mid nineties. Then, he was probably trying to break from his Spicolli phase, he did have a good name with Falcon and the Snowman my favorite. Still love that movie. As far as fabricating a police report, after OJ Simpson and Rodney King who knows what the LAPD do. I admit I do like that people defend Madonna’s honesty, even if I can’t wholly do it myself. It’s kind of honorable. I just have seen her go from being the sexy wild pop star to an almost proper English mom back to crazy pop/rock legend the one thing is Madonna is a chameleon. Everything public is about her image and she is a master at manipulating it. Not sure how this goes with that, but we may find out as times passes.
Oh please Artemis, I’m not emotionally involved in this. I’m simply defending my perspective and trying to understand the opposing position. I’ve said before, just because I think someone is a douchebag doesnt mean I dont see the possibility they have been misjudged in one situation. Its called “fairness”, look it up. One last thing, descending into a personal attack because you are unable to convince another person what you are selling is immature. I try not to engage with those types of people boty in real life and on the interwebs. So as they say, “bye Felicia”.
LAK it sounds like we are around the same age (and originally the same part of the world – EA). I do remember Sean and he was big. Not summer blockbuster big but serious actor big. Spiccoloi was his most famous mainstream role but he had already had an impressive filmography. He was at the top of the watch-list as a guy with chops who picked interesting roles. Shanghai Surprise was considered a fail PRECISELY because so much more was expected of him. Hanging with Madonna then invited a different type of attention, those fan magazines you were reading for instance. He handled the attention like an ass and that led to coverage on mainstream news etc. He was NOT just a journeyman actor, he was on the radar even before Madonna. Its really disingenous to pretend this guy didnt have lots of people who would happily cook up a tale or that his already shitty public image wouldnt have made it appear credible. Everybody who hears this story thinks “yeah, sounds about right” based more on who this is rather than what is VERIFIED evidence.
Please Naya, the only things you have offered so far is an opinion. You even lied saying the cops ‘dissavowed it’ (the report). Not true as two police members were involved (one who said Madonna came in in a state and another one when Madonna dropped the charges). The quote from the one lieutenant confirms the police report. Then you claim she ‘rang’ the cops? Not true, she FLED her house, then rang the cops and then made her way to the police station. The lieutenant said she CAME into the police station.
Honestly why try to claim one thing when it was on record that it was a totally different situation?
You never even bothered to refute the claims of some biographers like Taraborelli who clearly mentioned they looked at the ORIGINAL report and put in references so he’s not some lying biased hack. He did his research. It’s on Google books, I just checked. Go ahead and read for yourself.
Oh yeah and one of the police offers called it ‘domestic violence’. I really don’t care to what extent he abused her, domestic violence comes in all sorts so to say that he might have been verbal but oh definitely not struck her, seems like an awfully relaxed tone towards any type of violence (towards anybody). He’s not just a douche, he was/is a violent man. End of. Stop making excuses.
As for her brother, even though you CAN discredit his experiences, you failed to realise he was describing an event. Not an opinion like your examples of why he might be lying. He didn’t say ‘well I think Sean beat her’, no he liked the guy. He was close to him. And he decided to write about an event that turned him off as he loved his sister more, despite their ruined relationship. He’s bitter about Madonna yes, but why drag in Penn the way he did? The other men (besides Guy) merely got snarked.
Also, why drag in his exes? What woman likes to come out and say she’s been abused by her (ex)partner? Truly you’re grasping for straws. Not even Rihanna who had proof had the public’s full support. Women don’t like to come out and be judged as ‘victims’ as more often then not, they are not believed.
There will never be any real proof like in most cases for domestic violence as it’s a very intimate private issue. The fact that Madonna, a known control freak and perfectionist, is coming out now to support Penn speaks for itself. Madonna has been friendly with Penn for YEARS, not just recently (it has become more intense though) yet she never bothered to refute the claims. It’s obvious she’s doing it for him now that he’s in legal trouble.
What boggles the mind is how people cannot understand that she’s still in the cycle of abuse just like Rihanna was with Brown and every other woman on this planet supporting their abusive (ex)partner. And of course fans of Penn would trip over themselves to take Madonna’s word as true despite so many consistent valid reports. Even for the fans, domestic violence is one step too far so YAY now that Madonna has said it’s not true. Now you all can pretend that he isn’t an awful human being. It’s funny how you don’t need a lot to think he’s a good person. And I hope none of his other exes come out of with a DV story. If they want to speak out, that’s great but it also means Penn has ruined a part of women throughout his existence. That would be sad.
Not sure why you feel sorry for him, Sean created this publicity now. I think he wants it; maybe because of the Charlize breakup or maybe because of his stupid green card comment at the Oscars, or his last movie that he was so proud of that didn’t do well either financially or critically. Sean is trying to change the narrative. Daniels who I am not a huge fan of either just put him in the mix with Brando no one would have remembered the remark if Sean didn’t sue.
As far if the police report was real or not, who knows that many years ago a report that was not filed could be lost. I don’t believe that because of anything Daniels said, I believe that because I was around at that time and I remember him popping off in anger at every pap he saw. He was a big hot head and still seems to have those tendencies. It just seems likely, and no lawsuit will change my mind on that.
I think she can’t stand being seen as a victim, but I heard or maybe read rumours about Guy Ritchie being abusive towards her too.
I’m not sure which would be worse-if she lied then and let it fester this whole time or if she is lying now because it suits her to make him look good?
The older she gets, the more she shows her ass
Agree with you completely.
Women rarely lie about abuse but often lie to protect their abusers. Lying about abuse is terrible. But lying to protect an abuser is more complicated and there are a lot of reasons behind why women do it.
“Women rarely lie about abuse”
Ugh. I really hate this part of your comment because I actually DO know someone who did lie about her supposed “abuse.” I really wish I didn’t. But enough about the shady people I know IRL…
That being said, I believe Madonna is protecting Sean. I don’t think she ever got over him and possibly sees this as her “last chance” to make things “right” for them.
Totally agree, Grabby. Either she lied then or she’s lying now. Or maybe just some details are off. Like, he kicked, not hit. He chained her up, not tied. It was a softball bat, not baseball. Who knows. But I’d say he’s pretty confident any official reports are gone or he wouldn’t have filed the defamation claim.
The wording of the affadavit is telling – she never confirms or denies filing a police report there, either.
I wonder if you are responsible for repeating established rumors? I suppose so, and he shouldn’t have named Sean Penn without evidence, but I wonder if the fact that it has been assumed to be true by so many for so long makes any difference? Lawyers?
Forgetting about the damages part, because I really fail to see how this damages Sean at all as it seem to have heightened his fame not damaged his reputation, Sean as a public figure has to prove actual malice. Actual malice means one of two things first that Daniels knew the statement was false. I think that is fairly easy to say he didn’t. Second that Daniels had willful disregard for whether the statement was true or false, and I think for Daniels lawyers that wouldn’t be too hard to prove either. He just has to provide the many media stories that claim this was true. It doesn’t even have to be great sources, keep in mind the National Enquirer broke the John Edwards story, so it is reasonable to assume that they are correct, especially with other outlets like TMZ, Daily Mail, etc. adding to it. The standard for this is very low. This is why you don’t have a lot of cases in the US from celebrities it is very hard to prove, even legitimately.
Thank you. Great answer.
I don’t believe her, just like I don’t believe she fell off a horse years ago. She’s attracted to a certain kind of man, at least when it comes to her marriages. With her lovers, it’s the opposite.
Wait wait wait. You don’t believe she FELL OFF A HORSE? What am I missing here?
She showed up with an injury while married to Guy Ritchie and said she fell off her horse. People didn’t believe her.
I can understand that they may have rekindled their romance or friendship but lying like this? When there are so many details about the assault? Isn’t written somewhere that she refused to press charges at the time because Sean Penn had already been charged for assaulting someone working on a movie he was doing?
So Sean Penn never tied her to a chair and tormented her for hours? It’s like finding out there is no Santa……all my preconceived notions thrown out the window.
It’s such a far out story to just make up – the details that are available are just awful. If she made it up, why would she include the ‘degrading sex act’ parts? That’s humiliating for her too. It doesn’t make sense for her to make up a fake story back then and immediately retract it – that’s damaging for her too – it would be more understandable that it happened and she was terrified/PTSD/confused in love and claimed it didnt happen so they could ‘work things out’. It’s a classic partner abuse survival tactic – they’ll promise you the moon and the stars and say everything will be alright and it would also ruin your life anyway sweetheart….. people are manipulative and can have a hold over you for years.
My gut feeling is something did happen years ago but she agreed not to press charges. Penn may not be a full on psycho like Terrence Howard but he was arrested for violent behavior against paparazzi and was well known for violent public outbursts especially right around the time of the marriage.
It’s also very common for abused women to feel protective over their abusers and to cover and lie for them.
Also, since the accounts where so detailed and heinous and would definitely meet the standards for libel (especially in the UK which has strict libel laws). Why didn’t he ever sue the papers that made those reports?
Madonna then went on to say, “also, I’ve never had any plastic surgery or said anything controversial just for attention.”
Exactly!
Ha! BTW – does anyone else think Madonna – in the intro pic – looks a lot like Danny DeVito’s the Penguin from Batman Returns ? Not a good look. But maybe ok for a villainous penguin
Is her nose getting longer, come on Madge….if she’s telling the truth, yay, because no woman or man for that matter, should get abused by their spouse. However, how many decades has it been? In my mind, she lied, simply by withholding the truth then and making Penn the monster. She made a difference in the world back then and still has her following. But I am not a fan, at all. Oh yeah, you’re not British Madonna, that accent is just laughable.
It’s not at all surprising that she’s lying about the assault. Back in the late 80s, she did flee the house and went to the police and made that statement. I’ve seen the statement online. Once Penn got into her head again, she didn’t want to press charges anymore. Classic vicious abuse cycle. The same thing happened whenever they were about to divorce. Madonna would file, he would be in prison or working or something but as soon as they were together again, she would try to save the marriage.
It cannot be false as 100% of biographies said the same thing, surely somebody would have been able to refute the report if it wasn’t true as the ‘Poison Penns’ were such a huge deal back in the day. They were Brangelina level, even higher due to the drama and Madonna’s penchant for calling the paps. The police didn’t deny it happened either. And most importantly, her own BROTHER described some abusive events that he himself witnessed. How Penn chased her in her anger, emotionally abused her and threw/broke furniture. Christopher had to lock Madonna and himself in the room. He said after that he didn’t like Penn anymore (as they were quite close). I can’t remember what he said about the assault but Penn is absolutely capable of doing damage to the ones he claims to ‘love’. Christopher also said she was with Ritchie because he reminded her of Penn and how Penn looked like their father. And we all know how she felt about her dad back in the day. Her father ‘hurt’ her as per her own song on ‘Like a Prayer’. She has a thing for men who inflict pain on her.
What the biographers do say is how Madonna didn’t like being out of control and the press knowing truly intimate details, was horrifying for her. This is why she always played coy about what happened even when asked in an interview. She never really denied it until now.
What I find disgusting is that she never retracted or clarified her claims that black men treated her the worst. When you consider Sean Penn, it’s a shame how she thinks he’s worthy of a good image and privacy but ALL of her black ex-partners aren’t as she generalised the experience on top of everything else. I can’t be mad about still being in the abuse cycle but I am mad at her for being a problematic selfish bitter woman who is quite racist and pathetic going by her own words and behaviour on social media these last 5 years or so. No wonder her friends dropped her. Other older artists are way more respected than her despite not being as legendary. She’s sad.
She still loves him I think
Sorry I don’t get how there are levels of abusers? If Sean penn beats his wives (and I don’t believe Madonna at all..30 years silent come on) how is he different then Terrence Howard? What just because it’s not as frequent of Sean only uses the back of his hand to hit a woman? It’s not different, it’s inexcusable violence and disgusting and one shouldn’t be labeled the “better” or “good” abuser and the other bad. They both suck and should pay for their crimes!
I’m not surprised Lee Daniels would make such an offhand comment about abusive men after watching his piece-of-shite movie The Paperboy the other night. His portrayal of women in it is disgusting. I don’t know if I’ve seen other movies of his, but I will have to do some research on that, & if all his movies are so dismissive & derogatory kf women in society. (His portrayal of men isn’t much better!)
I haven’t paid that close attention to Madonna these last 25 years, but she certainly took her sweet time defending Penn from this accusation
Sounds like they both took their sweet time! Their rocky relationship was tabloid fodder nearly 30 years ago. Why not dispute it long before now?
Madonna continues to shock – this time with utter lies. Shame on her, absolute shame.
Wasn’t Sean Penn abusing Robyn Wright or am i mistaking him for someone else?
I don’t know what hapenned with Madonna but i guess he has a history of violence.
proof?
Either it’s true or Madonna has purposely not cleared up horrible rumors all these years for sympathy. I find her romanticizing of her time with Sean Penn pathetic. I constantly hear about her considering him the love of her life. Well how does she feel that Sean called Charlize Theron the love of his life? I think Madonna is more into him than he is her and he’s been kissing her behind lately to get her support for this lawsuit.
Wrong! They have been close for a long time, probably since he split from Robin. Google pictures of him attending her concerts years before this came out.
I know that, but he’s been attending more concerts than usual and was spotted hanging out with her at some bar. I’m just saying I think he is being manipulative and being extra nice to her (even writing note praising her music for the first time) because he knew he needed her for this lawsuit.
I love how everyone here claims to know more about her marriage than Madonna. The arrogance! She said he didn’t beat her up. She’s always claimed he was the love of her life. They are good friends. I don’t think that would happen if he’d done all the crazy stuff (including enforced oral sex in the version i read) that people say he did. I’m sure Sean was a little shit and impossible to live with but nobody has actually come out and said ‘sean penn beat me up’. Certainly not Robin Wright who knows him better than anyone and obviously doesn’t have a great relationship with him now. His kids never saw any abuse going on as they are obviously very close to their dad. I wouldn’t be close with my dad if i’d seen or heard him hitting my mother.
This is why the internet is dangerous. It accuses and sentences people without any proof, and in many cases when an individual states something isn’t true, sites like this just won’t believe them because they want to believe the more scurrilous version.
Good for Madonna for defending him, it’s just a pity she didn’t do it years earlier, though i guess she didn’t want to shine a light on internet rumors.
Seriously – it’s disturbing that everyone “knows” better than the woman in the story herself.
The reality is abused women tend to defend the men, not just Madonna just over all. Madonna’s brother along with many legitimate media sources wrote about the abuse at the time. In addition, Penn was sent to jail for violating his probation from his first offense of hitting someone, and then reckless driving and hitting an extra on the set got him 60 days in a LA jail cell all during his marriage to her. I think it is at least a somewhat reasonable assertion that maybe she may not be telling the entire truth. Your indignation, I think is misplaced, because after all these years I think we all know that Madonna can now take care of herself. She may not have been that astute in her twenties, but 50’s I think she is fine no matter what anyone thinks. I think she feels they are friends and is helping him out, plus she doesn’t like to appear the victim.
Her estranged brother that wrote a book about her? I don’t know if I’d call him a “legitimate” source, since he was trying to make money off his flesh and blood. I know very well that abused women will defend abusive men, but why would Madonna choose to be friendly with him decades later when she is a grown woman?
I also think hitting a paparazzo doesn’t mean one is more likely to be a domestic abuser – lots of people would react to being harassed and having cameras shoved in one’s face in public.
Indignation’ = calling for proof when the majority are shouting down Madonna when only she knows the reality? Yeah, whatever!
Madonna didn’t defend him back when the so called abuse happened, so your unsubstantiated claim that “women defend the men” doesn’t make any sense. She hasn’t been with him for years and years, so there is no hold on her to defend him. You seem to flipflop from one reason for her defending him to the other. By the end of your post it’s because she doesn’t want to play the victim and he’s her buddy….. These are all your words. I’m going to believe Madonna. Thanks!
Everyone knows Sean has gotten into scuffles with paparazzi and when boozing. That doesn’t mean he beats up his women. James Gandolfini freaked out on paps too, does that mean he was violent with his wife?
Yes it’s true the man has a history of very violent behavior it’s not illogical to speculate that he’s been physically abusive.
His 60 days in jail was for hitting an extra on a movie set, not a pap pushing cameras at him. It cannot be disputed that especially during his time married to Madonna he was violent. Yes violent men are more likely to abuse women, and my assertion is that it is reasonable to assume he abused her. Not just the brother but many biographies and legitimate news source have stories about this for over 30 years. Do a google search you will be amazed, I know I was at the legitimate news organizations.
Now why would Madonna say it didn’t happen now. You could be right she may be telling the truth, but why wouldn’t she say this earlier instead of 30 years later that is also a legitimate question, and read the 1989 Rolling Stone interview before you say she did, because she really does hedge the abuse question.
Not sure your age, but I was a big Madonna fan, I am a girl of the 80’s what can I say. She was on the edge and crazy and exciting, and Desperately Seeking Susan was just cool. I know it seems strange now to others. Then Madonna had this volatile almost reckless but so in love they would die if not for each other relationship with Sean Penn. It had a bad boy loves bad girl not conforming kind of image going on, and I think Madonna still likes the idea and Sean now. Thirty years changes you and neither are the same and time does temper and cover wound, but I could just see her going for the guy of her youth and the hot love of the past. You could be right, and I could be totally off base, but I think it is reasonable to assume that she may be coloring it differently now.
There’s no proof he has been abusive to his wives or girlfriends. Nobody has ever made a claim against him. Where is this police report than Madonna is saying doesn’t exist? If there was a police report that Madonna had signed then why would she now lie about it knowing she could easily be proven wrong?
You are all are enraged that Madonna is shooting down any event of abuse. I wonder if it’s because you have invested in Sean Penn being a wife beater, and that the fact that you are wrong bothers you. Whether some personal events effect how strongly you feel.
She did defending by not pressing charges.
Rihanna and Whitney Houston did that too, I guess Chris Brown and Bobby Brown are just poor victims of the vicious lies of evil women.
Which “Madonna” are you choosing to believe? The one that filed a police report, or the one that’s giving an interview saying she made everything up because she’s a vile person?
LMAO i guess that’s your call seeing as you seem to know what went on better than Madonna!!
Fully agree. Must be hard to let go of some beloved enemy.
Then why hasn’t Madonna cleared it up much sooner? She loved yapping to the press, but she played coy or refused to comment when asked about whether she filed a police complaint? Maybe you weren’t around to remember the 80s, but the story was a big deal and the sheriff spoke about her being bruised and beaten. How do you explain that?
Invested in Sean being a domestic abuser, what an odd choice of words, I can’t imagine that anyone would feel that way. I would prefer that no one is a domestic abuser, and I can assure you I am not invested in Sean Penn, Madonna or Lee Daniel’s in any way. I have liked all of their work at one time or another. As far as having to not be wrong, not sure if that was to me, but I don’t really care and in all honesty I would hope he isn’t a domestic abuser. One less for the world and I have been wrong many times before.
Simply put you stated that it was arrogant for people to assume they know more than the people in the marriage. Fact any social worker will tell you that abused women defend their abusers even many years after the event. Second why would Madonna lie now. Fact it could be a number of reasons that I and others have outlined before. You have chosen to believe in her statements now. You have every right, but I wouldn’t call it arrogance if others choose to believe the media, other accounts and Madonna’s silence on this from before. This is not a criminal case Sean Penn will not be convicted of abuse charges even if he loses. Proof beyond a reasonable doubt isn’t the standard.
For the legal buffs, Daniel’s attorney are going with a First Amendment right to get the case dismissed, probably the quickest avenue. I am beginning to think that all Penn really wanted was to get out a statement on the record from Madonna he never abused her. We’ll see what happens. Very interesting legal case as you have two celebrities against each other, no corporations and these cases are hard to win even with corporations as the villains.
Lou, I myself have issues with how quickly people are to believe something as fact but this is a different story. He hasn’t just punched paps, which is awful but somewhat understandable in context, but an extra. He once fired a gun at a helicopter. The most damning thing is that he never sued any of the legitimate, non tabloid media sources that reported this as a fact for YEARS in the past until he became super close and buddy buddy once again with Madonna circa 2010. Yes, libel laws are ridiculously unfair and are hard to enforce for public figures but this is the one thing where it would make sense to sue even if he wouldn’t win from a PR point of view. Domestic violence carries a whole different stigma than allegations of diva behavior, philandering, or rehab. Not to mention that Madonna NEVER denied filing a police report and despite being asked by this situation multiple times by legitimate journalists only denied it once in a RS interview years ago.
I just can’t anymore. She’s sad. Penn is 1000 times worse. And yes I 100 percent believe he’s a violent, abusive disgusting person. I’m shocked Penn is able to take it this far.
People love to believe the worst for some reason. I’ve never bought the story that he abused Madonna or anyone else despite his actions towards the press. Having a bad temper and beating your wife are two different things. The press was fairly aggressive towards them both. He despised it, she didn’t.
Agree.
Let’s see if Sean sues The Daily Beast for posting the article about the police report
I never believed those rumors were true after listening to this song. Their marriage was painfully tumultuous with huge arguments but she admitted, “Still I wish you’d ask me not to go.” She even admits, “she starts a lie.” That “lie” included rumors about Sean being abusive.
Till Death Do Us Part by Madonna (from Like a Prayer)
Our luck is running out of time
You’re not in love with me anymore
I wish that it would change, but it won’t, if you don’t
Our luck is running out of time
You’re not in love with me anymore
I wish that it would change, but it won’t
Because you don’t love me no more
[Verse]
You need so much but not from me
Turn your back in my hour of need
Something’s wrong but you pretend you don’t see
I think I interrupt your life
When you laugh it cuts me just like a knife
I’m not your friend, I’m just your little wife
[Chorus]
They never laugh, not like before
She takes the keys, he breaks the door
She can not stay here anymore
He’s not in love with her anymore
[Verse 2]
The bruises they will fade away
You hit so hard with the things you say
I will not stay to watch your hate as it grows
You’re not in love with someone else
You don’t even love yourself
Still I wish you’d ask me not to go
[Chorus]
[Verse 3]
He takes a drink, she goes inside
He starts to scream, the vases fly
He wishes that she wouldn’t cry
He’s not in love with her anymore
He makes demands, she draws the line
He starts the fight, she starts the lie
But what is truth when something dies
He’s not in love with her anymore
[Bridge]
You’re not in love with someone else
You don’t even love yourself
Still I wish you’d ask me not to go
[Chorus]
[Verse 4]
She’s had enough, she says the end
But she’ll come back, she knows it then
A chance to start it all again
Till death do us part
Well, if we’re going this route, one can say that you can glean some interesting commentary from Madonna’s “Oh Father” video, a song also from the album Like a Prayer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvVvN0QvzTk
Wow breaking things, alcoholism and running away because you’re scared is an ‘argument’ now? K then…
The most important line of all of this is that after all the *cough* arguments, she will come back to him and start the cycle (of abuse) again:
She’s had enough, she says the end
But she’ll come back, she knows it then
A chance to start it all again
Till death do us part
That’s not a passionate relationship, that’s straight up DV, any milder term would be sugarcoating what’s going on here.
So was she lying then, or is she lying now?
Karina Longworth has a couple of her “You Must Remember This” podcasts devoted to Madonna, and mentions the abuse episode in detail. The episode notes include a link to this DM article, which refers to “a report filed by Madonna with the Malibu sheriff’s office” and goes through the allegations in detail. I highly recommend YMRT!!!! Lots of well-researched Hollywood lore and backstories.
Madonna episode 1: http://www.vidiocy.com/youmustrememberthispodcastblog/madonna-from-sean-penn-to-warren-beatty-part-1
DM article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1157780/Is-Madonna-love-Sean-Penn-man-beat-baseball-bat.html#ixzz3uiVQKy91
SO,
Are we now expected to see him as
A misunderstood angel. . . ?
Sean and Terrence are both pathetic, vile abusers. Madonna is obviously protecting Sean by changing her story 30 years after the fact. It’s sad, even the richest, most successful women can be abuse victims. Their wealth doesn’t protect them.
There shouldn’t be any contest between “who’s the worse abuser.” Abuse is abuse, and Sean’s white male celebrity privilege has protected him from the consequences of his actions for far too long.
I dunno. Ivana Trump’s curious statement in support of The Donald was carefully worded and seemed to leave it open to interpretation as “yes, it happened, but I’m making excuses for his behavior now, it wasn’t a routine thing”. Madonna’s statement doesn’t leave room for that, she is explicitly denying that such events ever took place. Maybe they didn’t. Maybe she was very angry with him, maybe it was “rough sex” gone wrong so there was an element of at least initial consent? Who knows. I doubt very much that she’s afraid of him. She could have let the rumors persist because she had filed a police report (if false, that would be a problem) or because she was just still angry with him. Or was embarrassed, although it’s hard to think of Madonna as embarrassed by anything.
So while we worry about if he did or if he didnt..Lee Daniels gets a pass with that comment? So because Marlon Brando got away with it, so will the Bill Cosby’s and the Woody Allen’s of the world? Because they are rich powerful and revered, they are also to be admired and employed?
The Madonna and SP crap should be beside the point here.
kaiser…. I kinda feel like your backtracking here from your original post… which is unfortunate….
I dont think Lee Daniel’s comparision is absurd….. its just NO ONE…. thought libel would come of it…
on another note…. so madonna WHY DID YOU GET DIVORCED??? You both were cheating on each other… come on… this declaration is posting her visibility and now the new thing will be is sean penn at her concert…. omg they left together… blah blah blah…. i stop liking madonna after like ray of light… beautiful stranger—- the early 2000’s
I never liked either one of them.
I had to laugh at the photo of her with black netting hanging down over her thighs. That’s an old stripper trick. And I do mean “old stripper” as in aged. Back in the sixties, which was towards the very end of the burlesque queens, the older ones who just didn’t want to give it up would (attempt to) hide their sagging but and thighs by draping themselves in black netting. It was pitiful to see then and it still is…