Madonna Says Sean Penn Is No Wife Beater: He’s A ‘Caring, Compassionate Individual’

Madonna has surprisingly come to ex-husband Sean Penn’s defense, testifying that he never hit her during their marriage. The Queen of Pop came forward to defend her former spouse after Penn initiated a defamation of character lawsuit against Empire creator Lee Daniels.

Empire Hits A Sore Spot With Sean Penn

Earlier this month, Daniels publicly commented on rumors that Empire star Terrence Howard has a history of violence against women. It seemed that Lee was just trying to smooth over the bad reputation of one of his hit show’s biggest stars, but in so doing, the Empire showrunner offended Hollywood heavyweight Sean Penn.

“Ain’t done nothing different than Marlon Brando or Sean Penn, and all of a sudden he’s some f–-in’ demon,” said Daniels in response to reports that Howard has five arrests for assaults against women on his record.

In response to the mention of his name in relation to the domestic violence charges, Sean Penn has filed a $10 million defamation of character lawsuit against Mr. Daniels. The lawsuit asserts that the public statement made by Daniels was “egregious on several levels.”

Fifty-five-year-old Sean Penn believes that, after Empire was snubbed by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences at Sunday night’s Emmys, Daniels sought to bring a positive light to his show in any way possible. With that in mind, says Penn’s lawsuit, explains why Lee not only tries to defend Howard’s behavior but also seems to condone it.

Penn, in an attempt to anticipate and deflect any disparaging charges Daniels might make in response, has been forthright and honest about his own legal troubles. While admitting that he has had his own “brushes with the law,” Penn adds that he has never been arrested or convicted of any domestic violence charges. Sean remarks in his statement that his ex-wives would attest to the truth in that.

As Sean Penn Defends His Good Name, Madonna Comes To The Rescue

Following the filing of Penn’s lawsuit, Madonna submitted a statement to Manhatten Supreme Court on behalf of her ex-husband. While Daniels responded to the lawsuit with claims that search results for Penn’s name in regard to domestic violence keywords returns more than 432,000 results, the Material Girl denies the Empire showrunner’s allegations.

Court documents filed by Daniels specifies that, in 1987, Sean hit Madonna, and in 1989, the pop star was tied to a chair by her husband of the time. In her statement, Madonna regarded these allegations as “completely outrageous, malicious, reckless and false.”

Madonna now considers herself a lifelong friend to Penn. Although she admits their marriage was far from perfect, she says it wasn’t nearly as bad as Lee Daniels is making it out to be.

“While we certainly had more than one heated argument… Sean has never struck me, ‘tied me up,’ or physically assaulted me.”

After 30 years, Madonna claims to know Sean very well, and she describes him for the court as a caring and a compassionate person.

While we tend to remember people with rose-colored glasses, as the years go by, there’s no denying the everlasting truth of police records and court documents. As much as Madonna may have moved past it and may even wish it weren’t true, Daniels seems to have done his homework. His ability to cite specific years concerning incidents that had taken place between Madonna and Sean Penn seems to attest to that.

Sean Penn is taking this lawsuit very seriously, and it may have more to do with trying to put the past behind him than with comments made by third parties.

There’s just one question: Why hasn’t Charlize Theron come forward?

[Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images]