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Madonna Testifies On Sean Penn’s Behalf, ‘Sean Has Never Struck Me’

By Amy Feinstein
Published on: 12:23 PST, Dec 17, 2015

Sean Penn has filed a lawsuit against director Lee Daniels based on the fact that Daniels has stated that Penn hits women. Daniels, co-creator of the show Empire, stated that Empire star Terrence Howard is facing the same issues that have been faced by other actors in terms of spousal abuse and abuse against women. He lumped Sean Penn in with this group, and Penn says that Daniels has the wrong guy, and he will prove it.

According to Variety, Sean Penn is not happy, but his ex wife Madonna is stepping up to say that Sean Penn never hit her.

“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,” Madonna said in a declaration also filed on Thursday.

But Daniels, in defending Howard, says that his star hasn’t done anything different, which doesn’t seem to be a defense at all.

Daniels said that Howard “ain’t done nothing different than Marlon Brando or Sean Penn, and all of the sudden he’s some f—in’ demon. That’s a sign of the time, of race, of where we are right now in America.”

Daniels now claims that Penn is trying to financially cripple him, but Penn says that Daniels could have checked public records to verify that Penn has never even been accused of such things. Is Penn a known hothead? Yes. But he has no history of assaulting women.

“Daniels, who was on notice of the falsity of his statements and who could have easily checked on the veracity of his false statements before making them, upon information and belief, made defamatory statements with actual malice, reckless disregard for the truth, and for improper purposes, with full knowledge that the statements would be prominently published and repeated throughout and outside of the United States.”

TMZ is reporting that though their marriage didn’t survive, Madonna has Penn’s back in this defamation case against Lee Daniels.

“Madonna says all those reports ‘completely false.’ She calls her ex a ‘caring, compassionate individual’ who she’s known for more than 30 years.”

Penn is suing for $10 million, and stresses that there is no similarity between himself and Terrence Howard, who is embroiled in a domestic violence case.

E! Online is saying that Madonna standing up for Penn is a big deal, as many ex wives would not have stepped into this situation.

“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.”

Sean Penn’s suit states that any statements of abuse are purely false, and to let a statement like that go public is unacceptable.

“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,” contends Penn’s filing.

The suit was recently amended to include a statement from Madonna to back up Sean Penn.

Do you think Sean Penn is right to sue Empire creator Lee Daniels for saying that he has abused women?

[Photo courtesy of YouTube/Shanghai Surprise Still]

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