Sean Penn is currently suing Lee Daniels for defamation of character after Lee compared Sean’s abusive past to that of Terrence Howard. After Terrence admitted to Rolling Stone Magazine that he hit his wife, Lee defended the actor by saying:

Howard “ain’t done nothing different than Marlon Brando or Sean Penn, and all of a sudden he’s some f—in’ demon. That’s a sign of the time, of race, of where we are right now in America.

In a complaint filed Tuesday in New York Supreme Court, Sean and his lawyers claim that:

in purporting to ‘defend’ the ongoing legal and related troubles of [Howard] — who has reportedly, and publicly, admitted to physically abusing at least one woman and reportedly been arrested approximately five times for violent acts against women — Daniels has falsely asserted and/or implied that Penn is guilty of ongoing, continuous violence against women. Daniels’ comments were “apparently part of a misguided campaign to profit and further bolster and brand his show Empire.” While Penn “has certainly had several brushes with the law, Penn (unlike Howard) has never been arrested, much less convicted, for domestic violence, as his ex-wives (including Madonna) would confirm and attest.

This isn’t the first time this year that Sean’s history of domestic abuse has come to light.

Back in February, some shit went down between Sean Penn and the Twittwersphere. After honouring his long-time friend Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s for Birdman at the Academy Awards by jokingly saying “Who gave this son of a bitch a green card?” Twitter went off to both credit, and discredit Sean’s sketchy past. While some gave kudos to the star’s involvement in international affairs and natural disaster relief, others went on to remind the world of his women abuse.

Here are a few allegations against him:

– Once, in June 1987, he allegedly caused Madonna to be hospitalized after hitting her across the head with a baseball bat. But, remaining protective of her husband, the popstar refused to press charges since Penn was already facing 60 days in jail for assaulting a film extra.

– In December 28, 1989 Sean scaled their Malibu home that afternoon, found Madonna alone in her bedroom, and told her that he owned her “lock, stock, and barrel.” Although charges were dropped, according to reports, this is what went down:

When she told him she was leaving the house, he tried to bind her hands with an electric lamp and cord. Screaming and afraid, Madonna fled from the bedroom. What followed was a nine-hour ordeal which left her deeply shaken. Penn chased her into the living room, caught her and bound her to a chair with heavy twine. Then he threatened to cut off her hair.

– He was arrested once for attempted murder after he was busted hanging an intruding paparazzo over his ninth-floor hotel room balcony

Sean Penn may be sexy as hell, but I would hate to get on the wrong side of him.

[source: thedailybeast & ew]