Sean Penn Denies Assaulting Ex-wife Madonna During Their Four Year Marriage: She's Someone I Love

Hollywood actor Sean Penn, who was married to Madonna from 1985 to 1989, has addressed long-standing rumors about their marriage, denying allegations of physical abuse. During their divorce, it was alleged that Sean had assaulted Madonna with a baseball bat, claims he firmly denies.

Sean Penn denies abuse allegations

Reflecting on their past, Penn shared in an interview with The New York Times about a dramatic incident involving a SWAT team at his house. He recounted, "I had a freaking SWAT team come into my house," explaining that Madonna had expressed concerns to the police about guns in the house. He continued, "I said: ‘I’m not coming out. I’m going to finish my breakfast.’ The next thing I knew, windows were being broken all around the house and they came in. They had me in handcuffs."

Despite their turbulent history, Penn admits he still cares deeply for his former wife. He said, "She’s someone I love. It turns out it’s a lot quicker to repair a friendship after divorce if there are no kids involved. It took [ex-wife Robin Wright] and I quite a while. There was a lot of drama. Much more important to repair it if there are kids involved, but no easy swing, right?"

Sean Penn and Madonna's relationship

Sean, now 63, and Madonna, 65, were married from 1985 to 1989. Although Madonna initially filed for divorce in 1987, she withdrew the papers before filing again two years later. At that time, numerous reports surfaced claiming Penn had physically assaulted her, including an incident where he allegedly beat her with a baseball bat and tied her to a chair for hours.

However, Madonna has consistently denied any physical abuse during their marriage. In a 2015 statement supporting Penn in a defamation lawsuit against Lee Daniels, she wrote, “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.”

Penn had filed a $10 million lawsuit against Lee Daniels after the Empire co-creator referenced Penn in discussions about domestic violence in Hollywood. The lawsuit was settled in 2016.