Penn’s hateful attitude towards the paparazzi is definitely no secret, not even from his biggest fans. In one of the most famous outbursts that happened in 1987, he was on set when he violently attacked a photographer.
This crazy, but not uncharacteristic, event landed him in the slammer for a little over 30 days – half of his court ordered sentence. Not too long after this, Madonna would file for divorce, but would withdraw the papers before they were pushed all the way through.
Freeze Frame
Sean is no stranger to the way things work around Hollywood. He obviously knows that the press loves to spin stories, especially ones that put A-listers together in the world’s view. But Sean started taking steps to actually avoid Scarlett when the pair’s casual romantic episodes came to a halt.
One time on the red carpet, a photographer was lucky enough to catch them in the same vicinity and asked them to take a picture. Scarlett happily agreed, much to Sean’s dismay, and they were portrayed as being an item once again. Apparently, Sean’s efforts to avoid Scarlett that night by sneaking in the exit didn’t really pay off as he’d hoped.
Master Actor
Acting is a profession that requires its dedicated servants to wear a million masks. A good actor will portray their character so believably that the audience feels like they truly know the person in whatever movie or show they’re watching.
Unfortunately, this often means that when a fan gets to meet the “man behind the mask,” their hopes and dreams are shattered. This is basically what happened when Sean started to have all sorts of episodes in the public eye – especially when it came to light that he’d been physically abusive towards Madonna.
Questions Abound
In early 1989, a tabloid newspaper called The People, would put out an article that shocked the public to their core. Not only did the piece claim that Madonna was brutally beaten by Penn, but that he did things that made him sound like a complete sociopath. The article claimed that Penn tied Madonna to a chair, in the midst of the abuse. This type of information being linked to Penn truly confused his fans.
The behavior being described seemed so far away from anything they’d seen from Penn before, and they really didn’t want to believe that he had it in him to act this way. But according to the article’s author, Peter Kent, the reports were verified by law enforcement officials in Malibu.
The Breaking Point
The way assistant staff described freeing Madonna from that situation in the report didn’t make matters any better for Penn. The article portrayed Madonna as being seriously distraught, with horrible marks all over her face from where he had hit her. One staff member claimed that poor Madonna’s mouth was actually “frothing,” when they found her.
According to Kent, Penn’s publicist pushed the incident under the rug, attributing it to “regular young couple stuff.” Even though it was all very far from the truth, it would prove to be the breaking point.