Sean Penn Responds to El Chapo Controversy: "My Article Failed"

Penn says the article was originally meant to highlight the problems facing America's War on Drugs policy.

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Complex Original

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Regardless of how you feel about Sean Penn's storied cinematic career, the Oscar-winning actor's mind-boggling involvement in the ongoing saga of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán has continued to provide endless fascination since being revealed earlier this month. However, for those inclined to turn such matters into a full-blown controversy, Penn's presence in the life of one of the most powerful (and elusive) drug lords in history is wonderful fodder for dramatic criticism.

Penn is clearly aware of your remarks, and has addressed them directly and quite candidly in a just-teased interview with Charlie Rose. "Here's the things that we know: We know that the Mexican government, they were clearly very humiliated by the notion that someone found him before they did," Penn tells Rose during the intense sit-down, set to air in full on Sunday's 60 Minutes. "Well, nobody found him before they did. We're not smarter than the DEA or the Mexican intelligence. We had a contact upon which we were able to facilitate an invitation."

However, Penn's most revealing moment in this tease comes when he starts to open up about his original intentions for the endlessly controversial Rolling Stone article. "I have a regret that the entire discussion about this article ignores its purpose, which was to try to contribute to this discussion about the policy in the War on Drugs," Penn insists, adding that he believed his article was a failure. "Whether you agree with Sean Penn or not, there is a complicity there," Penn says. "And if you are in the moral right, or on the far left, just as many of your children are doing these drugs. And how much time have they spent in the last week since this article [came out], talking about that? One percent? I think that'd be generous."

Penn's right. The continued impact of this so-called "War on Drugs" is definitely something worth further investigation.

 

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