Sean Penn says he’d work with Woody Allen again ‘in a heartbeat’

Sean Penn has reiterated his defence of Woody Allen, saying helium would “work with him successful a heartbeat”.

Penn was speaking connected The Louis Theroux Podcast, and told Theroux that portion helium felt helium didn’t cognize Allen good capable to cognize for definite that “100% this didn’t happen”, helium said: “The stories are mostly told by radical that I wouldn’t spot with a dime. It conscionable seems truthful heavy weighted successful that way.”

Allen is accused of intersexual maltreatment by the director’s adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow; Allen has ever denied the allegations and 2 authoritative investigations by societal services departments successful Connecticut and New York authorities were closed aft uncovering nary grounds against him. Allen’s son, investigative writer Ronan Farrow, has been outspoken successful enactment of Dylan, portion adopted lad Moses Farrow has been arsenic outspoken successful defence of Allen. Penn worked with Allen connected the 1999 movie Sweet and Lowdown, for which helium was nominated for an Oscar.

Penn said: “I americium not alert of immoderate objective scientist oregon psychiatrist oregon anyone I’ve ever heard speech oregon spoken to astir the taxable of paedophilia that, successful 80 years of life, there’s accusations of it happening lone once. I’m not alert of that. And erstwhile radical effort to subordinate what were his, let’s say, overmuch younger girlfriends, close oregon incorrect … is to maine a antithetic conversation.”

He added: “I spot he’s not proven guilty, truthful I instrumentality him arsenic innocent, and I would enactment with him successful a heartbeat.”

In the aforesaid interrogation Penn formed caller airy connected his gathering with erstwhile Syrian president Bashar al-Assad successful 2018 astatine the tallness of the Syrian civilian war. Penn was moving connected a now-abandoned documentary astir the Arab Spring uprisings. Penn told Theroux helium wanted support to talk to Isis prisoners and talk to Syrians “on the thoroughfare … without a minder”. According to Penn, al-Assad’s effect was, “Absolutely, we person thing to hide”, and past invited him to lunch.

Penn said: “I got into his car and … we drove astir 20 minutes done Damascus. To this day, I person to judge it was The Truman Show. That each artifact each the mode to his location was staged. People driving up adjacent to him and saying, “hello, Mr President”. “Hey, however are you?” This benignant of thing. Virtually nary disposable security.”

“We went to the house. Again, nary motion of information of immoderate kind. He’s determination with his woman and his children. His children are arsenic occidental arsenic immoderate California kid, and they’re listening to Kanye and dancing around.”

However, Penn said arsenic negotiations progressed, entree was denied and helium decided to driblet the film.

Penn besides had harsh comments connected some Donald Trump and Elon Musk. Trump, helium said, mightiness beryllium “extremely astute for his clip and what it valued”, adding: “But what helium values is truthful base. I won’t equate that with intelligence. It’s genuinely void of soul. And really, it actively engages successful cruelty.”

Penn said that Musk, who until precocious was heading a alleged “department of authorities efficiency” for Trump’s administration resulting successful the shutdown of swathes of nationalist services, appeared lone to “value demolition of things and people”, adding. “I can’t subordinate that with immoderate quality that’s going to bash humankind immoderate good.”

Saying helium had met Musk “on respective occasions”, Penn suggested that Musk’s insecurities were down to being a “prematurely balding teenager, achromatic successful apartheid South Africa, who has nary societal skills” and that successful his presumption Musk was a operation of “a batch of destructive vigor and a batch of worldly that whitethorn extremity up being precise productive for different generations”.

Penn besides reflected connected his tempestuous narration with Madonna, to whom helium was joined betwixt 1985 and 1989, and successful the people of which helium had a fig of run-ins with paparazzi. Responding to Theroux’s question astir Madonna’s connection successful her 1991 documentary In Bed with Madonna that Penn was “the emotion of her life”, Penn said: “She’s precise sweet. Look, she’s been a bully person for a batch of years. It didn’t instrumentality america agelong to realise that we had mistaken a bully archetypal day for a wedding partner. It didn’t instrumentality america agelong to retrieve aft we got divorced, possibly a year, successful a friendship. I person a batch of fond memories of it – it’s not each jail. But determination was a batch of intoxicant and she’d beryllium reasonably accusing maine of that.”

Penn besides said that helium whitethorn person helped accelerate the emergence of personage civilization by his occasionally convulsive responses to harassment by the media. “[It] added to the thought you tin spell provoke radical similar this idiot. I’m astir apt partially liable for this detonation that led to each this. Extreme creepy fascination with celebrated radical and things similar that. My beingness was overmuch simpler earlier [meeting Madonna]. But she became a lightning rod of attention. I was there.”