| Penn admits to arrest December 27, 2004  OSCAR-winning actor Sean Penn was arrested for attempted murder before escaping from his jail cell and fleeing to Hong Kong, it was reported yesterday.
The incident is revealed in interviews Penn gave to the author of his biography, Sean Penn: His Life and Times, according to the newspaper. Penn, then aged 25, was in Macau with then-wife Madonna, tailed by the world's media, filming Shanghai Surprise, now widely seen as one of Hollywood's worst ever films. Penn recalled how an intruder "lunged at him" in his hotel so he "grabbed the guy, ran him through the room to the balcony and hung him over - on the ninth floor." Police were called, according to the newspaper, and Penn said: "Five minutes later I'm in jail, on a stone floor next to my friend, and everyone's talking Portuguese." However, Penn noticed the cell door was ajar and fled with his assistant before jumping on a jetfoil boat and escaping to Hong Kong. Penn, now 44, was later given a pardon by the Portuguese Government, which ruled Macau until 1999. The incident took place a year after Madonna and Penn married in August 1985. They divorced four years later. His arrest in Macau was never reported, although the couple also had run-ins with photographers in London and Hong Kong while on location for the movie. At the time, filming in Macau was abandoned with no explanation and the film's executive producer, ex-Beatle George Harrison, jetted out to defuse tensions between Penn and photographers. |
