Sean Penn Needs To Go Away (Allegedly)

There are more than a few famous men who have (allegedly) beaten or raped women and have just kept on being famous. They try to bury their reportedly dark pasts, stomaching the times they may have used physical force to assert power over another human life. Glass half empty, they have (allegedly) beaten or raped women. Glass half full, they are still famous, so, it's fine, not a big deal. 

Thomas Niedermueller via Getty Images

Except, that is, when pot-stirrers like Lee Daniels bring up the fact that the past still exists. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Daniels defended "Empire" actor Terrence Howard, who has previously been accused of violence against women, saying, "that poor boy ain’t done nothing different than Marlon Brando or Sean Penn, and all of a sudden he’s some fuckin’ demon."

Marlon Brando is dead (RIP), but Penn is alive and his feelings were hurt. So hurt, in fact, that he is suing Daniels. "Can you really put a price on feelings?" you may be wondering. And the answer is, yes, feelings cost $10 million. Or anyway, that is how much Penn's lawsuit against Daniels is seeking.

The whole thing is online and makes some really good points about how great Penn is. According to the aforementioned lawsuit, he is:

• An "American icon"
• An "internationally-known film actor recognized for his humanitarian work, journalism, and advocacy for peace and human rights"
• And "one of this generation’s most highly-acclaimed and greatest artists and humanitarians, Sean Penn." 

It also states that "Daniels has falsely asserted and/or implied that Penn is guilty of ongoing, continuous violence against women." (Which, what does "ongoing" and "continuous" even mean in the context of violence against women? Is it just punching every member of a Girl Scout troop, going to sleep, waking up and punching every member of a different Girl Scout troop?)

Associated Press

Daniels was attempting to highlight the racial discrepancies between Howard and his white counterparts, but -- cue "Ebony & Ivory" -- it's actually not OK to hit women whether you're black or white. Daniels is basically encountering the issue by saying, "Whatever, guys! Sean Penn did that, too!" And Penn is basically responding by saying, "Actually, I'm a humanitarian and now you owe me $10 million."

Penn's attempt to censor Daniels is only further publicizing the quote, though not because we're suddenly rightfully enraged by the Madonna incidents, both of which are recapped by the New York Post in a piece titled "Why Would Anyone Want To Date Sean Penn?":

In 1987, Penn reportedly struck his then-wife, Madonna, across the head with a baseball bat....
In December 1988, Penn allegedly tied Madonna to a chair in their Malibu home and attacked her. The nine-hour ordeal only ended when the singer was untied to use the bathroom and she fled to a police station.

Madonna did not press charges in either case, so in a sense, Penn's suit saying he was never convicted of domestic abuse is accurate. Still, a case against Daniels will only work to draw more attention to his past. And after being famous for more than three decades, Penn has to understand that, right? Maybe he just wants to remind us he's an "American icon." Maybe he needs $10 million dollars so he can buy this diamond chandelier.

What's clear is the impact of both Penn and Daniels. Here is yet another dialogue about violence against women driven ... by men. Men who, in an attempt to protect their professional interests and reputations, are using their privileged male voices to dominate media conversations.

Whether it's an accused man making statements to the public, or another man making jabs at the accused, men's accounts of abuse speak volumes. (Remember, women were accusing Cosby of rape for decades before Hannibal Buress got our attention with a joke.) This dynamic not only perpetuates the culture of silence for victims of abuse, but is implicit in allowing abuse to continue at the highest stratospheres of fame.

We have to recognize what voices are the loudest and refuse to let them stop us from making the right kind of noise.

Middlebrow is a recap of the week in entertainment, celebrity and television news that provides a comprehensive look at the state of pop culture. From the rock bottom to highfalutin, Middlebrow is your accessible guidebook to the world of entertainment. Sign up to receive it in your inbox here.

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Sean Penn Biography

Academy Award-winning actor Sean Penn starred in 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High,' 'Mystic River' and 'Milk,' married Madonna and directed Jack Nicholson in two films.

Synopsis

Born in California on August 17, 1960, Sean Penn began his acting career on Broadway before making his film debut in 1981's Taps. His breakout role came in 1982, when he played Jeff Spicoli in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Later acting work included Dead Man Walking (1995) and She's So Lovely (1997), and writing, producing and directing The Crossing Guard (1995), among other projects. Penn's more recent acting credits include Up in the Villa, The Weight of Water, All the King's Men, I Am Sam, Milk and Tree of Life; directing credits include The Pledge and Into the Wild. He has won several honors as a thespian and filmmaker, including two Academy Awards for best actor.

Young Hollywood

Actor Sean Justin Penn was born on August 17, 1960, in Santa Monica, California. His father, Leo Penn, was an actor and director. His mother, Eileen Ryan, was an actress. Sean Penn grew up in Los Angeles, and attended Santa Monica High School along with fellow students and future actors Emilio Estevez, Charlie Sheen and Rob Lowe.

An  interest in filmmaking, specifically directing, led to Penn's passion for acting, which included several early TV parts. He moved to New York City at the age of 19 and soon landed a part in a Broadway play, Heartland. In 1981, he made his film debut alongside budding star Tom Cruise and Academy Award winner Timothy Hutton in the military school drama Taps.

Penn's breakthrough role came a year later, when he played the perpetually stoned surfer Jeff Spicoli in the high school comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) opposite Jennifer Jason Leigh and Judge Reinhold. Penn then garnered acclaim for his first starring role in 1983's Bad Boys and for the drama The Falcon and the Snowman (1985).

Bad Boy Image

In 1985, Penn gained a whole new measure of fame when he married pop icon Madonna. Their tumultuous four-year marriage produced one dismal movie, 1986's Shanghai Surprise, and a barrage of tabloid headlines. Penn's "bad boy" image only increased with his continued hostility toward the aggressive paparazzi—he served 34 days in prison in 1987 for punching an extra who tried to take his picture. Penn and Madonna divorced in 1989.

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Array of Films

In 1991, two years after earning rave reviews for his performance in Casualties of War (1989), Penn directed his first film. The feature The Indian Runner opened to a limited release and ultimately made a bit less than $200,000 at the box office. Critics gave the film mild praise.

Though he previously claimed he quit acting, Penn returned to the front of the camera in 1993, playing a coke-addled criminal lawyer in Brian De Palma's Carlito's Way, co-starring Al Pacino. His performance earned him a Golden Globe nomination for best supporting actor.

Then in 1995, he starred as a death row inmate searching for salvation in the film Dead Man Walking, based on the true story by Helen Prejean. The film earned Penn Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations, as well as an Independent Spirit Award. The film also did well with audiences, grossing more than $80 million worldwide.

That same year, he wrote, produced and directed The Crossing Guard, a dark drama starring his boyhood idol, Jack Nicholson. The film received positive reviews from critics, as well as a Golden Globe nomination for Anjelica Huston.

Recognition for 'Mystic River'

Penn next starred as a lovesick, jealous husband in Nick Cassavetes's She's So Lovely (1997), co-starring John Travolta and Penn's real-life second wife, Robin Wright Penn. Although Penn (who also served as executive producer) won the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival, She's So Lovely did not attract a wide audience.

Penn appeared in two other major films in 1997: the poorly received U-Turn, directed by Oliver Stone, and the hit action-thriller The Game, starring Michael Douglas. In Hurlyburly (1998), Penn reprised a role he played on the Los Angeles stage in 1988. That same year, he also starred in the critically acclaimed World War II drama The Thin Red Line, directed by Terrence Malick.

In 1999, the unpredictable Penn took Hollywood by surprise when he garnered a second Academy Award nomination for best actor, turning in another searing, darkly complex performance as the dissolute jazz guitarist at the center of Woody Allen's Sweet and Lowdown. In 2000, he starred in the romantic Up in the Villa with Kristen Scott Thomas, and in The Weight of Water. His third directorial feature, the thriller The Pledge, again starred Nicholson and Wright Penn. Then in 2002, Penn starred opposite Michelle Pfeiffer in I Am Sam, playing a mentally disabled man who fights to regain custody of his young daughter. He received his third Oscar nomination for the role.

The following year, he starred in Clint Eastwood's small town drama Mystic River, for which he earned an Academy Award for best actor. In 2006, Penn starred as Willie Stark, a fictional character based loosely on Louisiana governor Huey Long, in All the King's Men. He went on to direct the true-life story of a young man living in rural Alaska in Into the Wild (2007), starring Emile Hirsch. 

Second Oscar for 'Milk'

Stepping back in front of the cameras, Penn won his second Academy Award for best actor for his portrayal of the first openly gay politician, Harvey Milk, in the film Milk (2008). The film, directed by Gus Van Sant, received more than 40 award nominations and performed well at the box office. Penn later had a supporting role in the Malick film Tree of Life (2011). That same year, he starred in the independent drama This Must Be the Place, in which Penn played a former rock star who searched for a Nazi war criminal to avenge his father.

Penn tackled an infamous role in Gangster Squad (2013), a movie about the clash between law enforcement and organized crime in Los Angeles in the 1940s and 1950s. He portrayed the notorious crime boss Mickey Cohen and Ryan Gosling played a member of the police force who opposes him. The project had been scheduled for a fall 2012 release but was delayed because of the film's shootout scene in a movie theater, which evoked memories of the July 2012 shootings inside a Colorado movie theater. Warner Brothers, the studio behind Squad, subsequently made edits to the film.

Penn had a small supporting role in 2014's The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, starring Ben Stiller, and is featured in the 2015 action drama The Gunman. He also made headlines after the February 2015 Academy Awards telecast: Penn uttered an off-color joke about friend Alejandro Gonzales Iñárritu while announcing the director's Birdman win for best picture.

Personal Life

Penn and future House of Cards star Robin Wright had wed in 1996, going on to have two children. The couple divorced in 2010 in a non-amicable split. Then in early 2014, reports surfaced that Penn was dating a fellow Oscar winner, actress Charlize Theron. With their romance receiving ample media coverage, there's continued speculation over whether he and Theron will tie the knot. 

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