Sean Penn has two sides to him. On one hand, he is amongst the most accomplished stars in the entertainment industry, and on the other, he is one of the most controversial ones out there. From allegedly punching someone for simply talking to his then-wife Madonna to getting accused of attempted murder, the actor has done it all.
Once, Sean Penn even got into a fight with a couple of photographers who were waiting outside his and Madonna’s hotel to take a picture of the couple. However, never would they have ever imagined that an actor of Sean Penn’s status would chase after them with rocks in his hand. Is it really a fight if only one side is being attacked?
Sean Penn’s Scuffle with Photographers
The incident took place all the way back in 1985 when Sean Penn was engaged to superstar Madonna before tying the knot a month later. Two freelance journalists, Laurence Cottrell and Ian Markham-Smith, were working for The Sun and were waiting outside the couple’s hotel hoping to take their photograph together and ask a few questions about their upcoming wedding.
Cottrell and Markham-Smith were waiting in their car for Madonna to return from her jog and when she did, the duo approached them. This is where Penn lost all his cool and attacked them both. Markham-Smith recalled,
“He went for us like a madman. He just went for us straight off. He went berserk, like a whirlwind.”
Adding to the recollection of the incident, Cottrell gave an even more detailed account of how the Mystic River actor threw rocks at them.
“We were sitting in the car outside the Maxwell House Hotel when she went out for a jog. We hadn’t taken a picture, but Penn spotted us and figured out who we were. He said, ‘No pictures–you take my picture and I’ll break your back with this rock.’ He used profanity. We asked ‘What’s the problem?’ Then he came after us and threw the rock at me and hit me in the middle of my back with great force. I was in tremendous pain. He just kept on and on and on. It wasn’t a quick assault.”
After Cottrell was taken to the hospital to have his injuries checked out, the journalist had to get a back brace and the staff told him that he might have a cracked rib. The other journalist stated that Penn gave him a black eye.
As for where Madonna was when Penn was unleashing his wrath on the journalists, Cottrell stated that she watched it all happen but didn’t intervene. She even pulled down her baseball cap to make sure her face didn’t come in any photos.
The Aftermath of Sean Penn’s Attack
After everything was said and done, Penn was taken into custody while he was in his hotel room. Officer Thomas Nelson said that there was “no problem” and that the actor did not resist. When night court commissioner Bill Norris asked Penn if he understood the charges against him, he simply replied, “Yeah.”
Penn did not contest the charges and was put into jail where he served a suspended sentence. Later, the actor was able to walk out a free man after paying a bond of $500.
This was not the only time Penn got into trouble for assault. In 2009, a photographer filed a report against him after Penn kicked him repeatedly and broke his camera. All of this was caught on tape resulting in the actor being charged with misdemeanor vandalism and misdemeanor battery. The photographer had to go through surgery and Penn served 36 months of probation, 300 hours of community service, and 36 hours of anger management classes. Initially, the actor was looking at 1.5 years in prison for his actions.
Source: Los Angeles Times
