Sean Penn

Sean Penn Blames Media for Failures in Haiti Recovery
By Kyle Drennen | July 12, 2010 | 11:55 AM EDT
Sean Penn, CBS Appearing on Monday's CBS Early Show, actor Sean Penn described ongoing relief efforts in Haiti following January's earthquake and condemned the media for its lack of coverage of the disaster beyond the initial weeks: "I think that the media has played an enormous part in the failures that are still going on today and the recovery here and the relief operations."

Those comments from Penn were prompted by co-host Harry Smith wondering: "People would be curious why you went in the first place. And then, why you stayed. What's the best answer for that?" Penn replied: "...if they're wondering that, then that would be an indictment of the American and the international press that came here in the immediate aftermath of this devastating earthquake." Penn explained: "The United States sent its military, that did an extraordinary job in immediate relief....And then when they went on with other deployments, when the amputations en masse stopped, the media left."

Smith gave absolutely no reaction to Penn's scathing criticism, but simply went on to tout praise for the left-wing actor's work on the island nation: "I was reading the comments of a lieutenant general from the U.S. Southern Command who you came in contact with. And he said, 'you know, maybe I don't agree with Sean Penn's politics but I can tell you this, he's a doer, not a talker....I applaud the leadership he has shown. He doesn't have to do this.'"
‘Fair Game’: L.A. Times Ignores Facts to Pimp Film, Trash Bush
By Mark Tapson | May 21, 2010 | 11:40 AM EDT

FairGame1x-wide-communityEditor's Note: This post originally appeared at Andrew Breitbart's Big Hollywood.

The political thriller Fair Game premiered at Cannes today. (Pause for giant, collective yawn from Big Hollywood readers…)

The Sean Penn-Naomi Watts “starrer” (hey, it’s fun using unnecessarily awkward Variety-speak!) revisits the Valerie Plame Wilson scandal, an episode I’m not even going to bother recapping, because to do so would simply be coma-inducing for all of us. Besides, I already summed up the affair and dissected the screenplay’s political slant for Big Hollywood here. Suffice it to say, it’s a tale the Hollywood Left is hell-bent on getting Americans to care about.

As are its water-carriers in the media. In a deceptive puff piece an article last week for the Los Angeles Times, Rachel Abramowitz discusses the film and interviews its director Doug Liman. The first clue that we’re about to be sold a crockpot of hooey comes when she describes Valerie Plame as “the undercover CIA operative whose name was leaked to the media by the Bush White House in an effort to discredit her husband, former Ambassador Joe Wilson.”

Olbermann: My Ancestors Came to U.S. 'Trying to Get Away from People Like' Marco Rubio
By Brad Wilmouth | April 1, 2010 | 1:24 PM EDT

On Wednesday's Countdown show, MSNBC host Keith Olbermann used his regular "Quick Comment" segment to lecture Florida Republican Senate candidate Marco Rubio for recently remarking that people like Olbermann "hate America" and should be traded to other countries in exchange for immigrants who love America. As the MSNBC host referred to his own great grandparents who immigrated to America "for its opportunity and its freedom," Olbermann charged that they had come to this country to escape people like Rubio: "Mr. Rubio, I am the great grandson of immigrants, as you are the son of immigrants, who came to this country for its opportunity and its freedom. And I know one thing for sure: my ancestors and yours were trying to get away from people like you."

Notably, just over a year ago on the March 24, 2009, Countdown show, Olbermann seemed to express a negative view of American "values" generally when he mocked the name of Gary Bauer's American Values organization as sounding like a "discount septic tank operation." Olbermann: "Gary Bauer, former presidential candidate, former Reagan domestic policy adviser and now president of American Values which, despite the name, is not a discount septic tank operation, writing at Politico a mere two months after the last of dozens of conflicting Pentagon reports suggested with almost no verification that 61 former Gitmo detainees had been identified as returning to terrorism."

An Open Letter to Sean Penn
By Maria Conchita Alonso | March 25, 2010 | 12:23 PM EDT

Editor's Note: The following is an open letter from actress Maria Conchita Alonso, who penned this response to actor Sean Penn's recent remarks on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" in which the left-wing actor defended Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez.

Dear Sean, WHY?

Even though I have great respect for your artistic talent, I was appalled by a recent television interview where you vigorously showed support for the regime of Hugo Chavez. Therefore, I've decided to set the record straight for you regarding the Chavez regime, supporting my case based not only on my political ideologies, but on proven facts you choose to ignore.  Otherwise, I believe your position would be different.

Being born in Cuba, a country where freedom of speech is non-existent, it's startling to observe how Venezuela, where I was happily raised, is fast becoming Cuba's mirror image: Dismantling of fundamental democratic rights deserved by its people and citizens of the world.

For example, you said that all Chavez-winning elections in Venezuela were "transparent."

Then WHY didn't the government allow a manual recount of the votes and computer information when doubt set in? After all, how do you explain how these votes that were strongly favoring the opposition mysteriously reflected the opposite results the morning after, thus permitting Chavez to continue on?  On what are you basing your conclusions? I strongly recommend that you read a report by the U.S. State Department written in 2009 entitled "The Fraudulent Elections in Venezuela".

Red Eye's Robot Theater Rips Chavez and Penn's Love Affair
By Noel Sheppard | March 13, 2010 | 2:59 PM EST

The folks at Fox News's late night hit "Red Eye" on Saturday lampooned the strange relationship that exists between Venezuelan despot Hugo Chavez and actor Sean Penn.

As NewsBusters has been reporting, Penn has made some bizarre comments recently which include wishing his critics would die screaming of rectal cancer and saying journalists should be jailed for calling Chavez a dictator.

This nuttiness was followed by Chavez thanking Penn for his support and Penn throwing the Washington Examiner's Tara Palmeri out of a Q&A session for asking him about his rectal cancer remark.

All this proved perfect comedic fodder for Gutfeld and Company who first invited Palmeri on to discuss Penn's bizarre behavior and then used Robot Theater to marvelously mock the love affair between these two strange bedfellows in a segment called "Hugo Loves Seany" (video embedded below the fold):

Sean Penn Kicks Out Reporter for Challenging Him on 'Rectal Cancer' Remark
By Lachlan Markay | March 12, 2010 | 11:25 AM EST

Is Sean Penn getting a bit too close with Venezuelan dictator (yes Sean, he is a dictator) Hugo Chavez? He seems to be taking a page from Chavez's book in dealing with the press.

A reporter for the Washington Examiner was kicked out of a question-and-answer session with Penn after asking him about recent controversial remarks Penn made about his critics. It seems that the actor and wannabe lefty commentator doesn't like being asked tough questions.

"I think that you are investing in a culture that I am not interested in. And you should go your way," Penn told Tara Palmeri, a reporter for the Examiner's "Yeas and Nays" column. (Video embedded below the fold).

Homicides Skyrocket in Venezuela, Chavez Thanks Penn for Support
By Noel Sheppard | March 12, 2010 | 9:42 AM EST

Venezuelan despot Hugo Chavez says he's grateful for the support he's getting from actor Sean Penn.

As NewsBusters reported Monday, Penn told HBO's Bill Maher last week:

[E]very day, this elected leader is called a dictator here, and we just accept it! And accept it. And this is mainstream media, who should – truly, there should be a bar by which one goes to prison for these kinds of lies.

According to a report from the Associated Press, Chavez was pleased by this remark: 

Media Gives Sean Penn a 'Rectal Cancer' Pass
By Steven Crowder | March 10, 2010 | 2:55 PM EST
"You know, do I hope that those people die screaming of rectal cancer? Yeah, you know, but I’m not going to spend a lot of energy on it." – Sean Penn (when addressing his detractors)

No, I’m not making it up, you can even view the video here. O’Reilly, feel free to examine his body language, though to be fair, there isn’t much of a body to work with. For those too lazy to watch the video, let me recap it for you: **Spoiler alert!** Sean Penn has decided to take the life-plunge and go full-retard. Honestly, I don’t even know what to say anymore. Clearly, his statement was made in the poorest taste possible. Even more appalling however, is that the media doesn’t seem upset about these remarks in the slightest.

Is it just me, or do the “outrageous” quotes from Limbaugh, Coulter, and Beck that send the mainstream-media into a tizzy pale in comparison to the vitriolic hatred of Penn?

'Red Eye' and Coulter Rip Bill Maher for Wishing Glenn Beck Dead
By Noel Sheppard | March 10, 2010 | 1:42 PM EST

Greg Gutfeld and the "Red Eye" gang Tuesday tore apart Bill Maher for wishing that Glenn Beck had been killed during last week's Pentagon shootings.

As NewsBusters previously reported, the so-called comedian during last Friday's "Real Time" said of the tragedy, "When we see crazy, senseless deaths like this, we can only ask why, why, why couldn't it have been Glenn Beck?"

This led Gutfeld, along with guests including Ann Coulter and S.E. Cupp, to lay into Maher for his absurdity while also skewering actor Sean Penn for recently wishing his critics would "die screaming of rectal colon cancer."

For the entertainment pleasure of his audience, Gutfeld enlisted the help of his famous Red Eye Robots to offer Maher some new material utilizing "Glenn Beck died" punch lines (video embedded below the fold, h/t Story Balloon):

Sean Penn Suggests Prison Time for Journalists Who Call Hugo Chavez a Dictator
By Tim Graham | March 8, 2010 | 8:21 AM EST

At the end of a discussion of Haiti on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, actor Sean Penn went on a rant in defense of Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez, suggesting prison time for American journalists: "every day, this elected leader is called a dictator here, and we just accept it! And accept it. And this is mainstream media, who should – truly, there should be a bar by which one goes to prison for these kinds of lies."

This is a little strange, since a study by our Business and Media Institute of Chavez coverage from 1998 to 2006 found Chavez’s much-criticized human rights record was mentioned in only ten percent of stories, and he was described as a leftist in only 12 percent of stories. Maher shifted to Chavez and the end of the Haiti interview, asking Penn to make a case for his man Chavez:

Sean Penn Hopes His Critics Die of Rectal Cancer, Lara Logan Laughs
By Noel Sheppard | March 6, 2010 | 3:37 PM EST

I'm not sure which is worse: Sean Penn hoping his critics die screaming of rectal cancer, or CBS News's Lara Logan finding that funny.

As NewsBusters previously reported, CBSNews.com on Friday posted a preview of an interview to be broadcast on "Sunday Morning."

In it, Logan asked Penn, "Does it make you angry when people talk about, you know, 'Sean Penn, the Hollywood star, the movie star, coming in and trying to do something,' and they're kind of cynical about it?"

Penn arrogantly answered, "You know, do I hope that those people die screaming of rectal cancer? Yeah" (video embedded below the fold with transcript):

Actor/Liberal Loon Sean Penn's Death Wish for Critics
By John Nolte | March 5, 2010 | 4:59 PM EST

Last night I was on the Stage Right Show with the great Ben Shapiro and he alerted me to this story about Sean Penn’s latest addition to his growing list of butt-fetish statements — and what a sordid history it is: Here’s Penn discussing anal sex on (not safe for work)YouTube, going so far as to suggest his audience “f*ck some sense” into those gay conservatives who dare think for themselves as Log Cabin Republicans. And who can forget this epic passage of perverse anal-pretension from Penn’s 2007 open letter to President Bush:

We cower as you point fingers telling us to “support our troops.” Well, you and the smarmy pundits in your pocket, those who bathe in the moisture of your soiled and bloodstained underwear, can take that noise and shove it.

"…[t]hose who bathe in the moisture of your soiled and bloodstained underwear"?

There just aren’t enough “WTFs” in the whole wide world…