Hollywood actor Sean Penn has expressed regret that the article he wrote after interviewing Mexican drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman failed to spark new debate about the US war on drugs.
Penn said his goal in meeting with Guzman was to shine a light on America's role in the international drug trade.
"We are the consumer. Whether you agree with Sean Penn or not, there is a complicity there," Penn said told journalist Charlie Rose, in an interview scheduled to air in full Sunday on the CBS program "60 Minutes." Excerpts were broadcast on Friday.
"If you are in the moral right, or on the far left, just as many of your children are doing these drugs," the actor said.
"How much time have they spent in the last week since this article came talking about that? One percent? I think that'd be generous."
Penn added: "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."
His interview was published last Saturday in Rolling Stone, triggering a barrage of criticism, including condemnation of Penn himself.
READ: 'El Chapo' in his own words
Among other things, the ire has centered on Penn's letting Guzman review the piece before it ran; seeming to glorify -- or at least go easy on -- a man blamed for thousands of deaths in Mexico's drug-related violence and contributing to drug addiction in America.
Other critics fault him with having engaged in self-aggrandizing gonzo journalism while real reporters covering the drug trade in Mexico risk their lives daily.
Penn challenged the Mexican government's assertion that the interview -- held in an undisclosed location in Mexico -- helped the authorities track down Guzman, who was captured the day before the article was published.
"There is this myth about the visit that we made, my colleagues and I with El Chapo, that it was -- as the attorney general of Mexico is quoted -- 'essential' to his capture," the actor said.
"We had met with him many weeks earlier...on October 2, in a place nowhere near where he was captured."
Penn also said he thinks much of the criticism he has drawn in the media reflects jealousy over the big scoop he landed in interviewing Guzman.
"When you get the story that every journalist in the world wanted, there's a lot of green-eyed monsters who're gonna come give you a kiss," Penn said.
AFP
Sat Jan 16 2016
![Sean Penn regrets Chapo interview failed to spur drug debate Sean Penn regrets Chapo interview failed to spur drug debate](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/http://img.astroawani.com/2016-01/51452412851_SeanPenn.jpg)
Penn also said he thinks much of the criticism he has drawn in the media reflects jealousy over the big scoop he landed in interviewing Guzman.
![Saya tidak fitnah Lim Guan Eng, cuma jelas tentang siasatan SPRM - Muhyiddin Saya tidak fitnah Lim Guan Eng, cuma jelas tentang siasatan SPRM - Muhyiddin](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/51721121786_MuhyiddinYassin.jpg)
Saya tidak fitnah Lim Guan Eng, cuma jelas tentang siasatan SPRM - Muhyiddin
Muhyiddin memberitahu bahawa beliau tidak memfitnah Lim Guan Eng berhubung isu pengecualian cukai terhadap Yayasan Albukhary.
![Saintis kesan gen bantu rawat kanser pankreas Saintis kesan gen bantu rawat kanser pankreas](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-04/81712376317_TujuanForensik.jpg)
Saintis kesan gen bantu rawat kanser pankreas
Gen HNF4A (Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 4 Alpha) didapati akan berhenti berfungsi pada tubuh pesakit kanser pankreas.
Pantau Agenda Reformasi: Potensi dan cabaran percambahan e-Sukan di Malaysia
Pengerusi Gabungan Pelajar Melayu Semenanjung (GPMS) Negeri Selangor
merangkap Timbalan Presiden Majlis Belia Negeri Selangor
E-Sukan mampu mencetak nama Malaysia di pentas dunia. Memahami potensi, kekangan dan peranan yang perlu dimainkan semua pihak dalam melahirkan lebih ramai pemain E-Sukan yang berjaya, seterusnya menyokong pembangunan industri E-Sukan negara.
SRG cipta sejarah pasukan Malaysia pertama juarai MSC MLBB 2024
merangkap Timbalan Presiden Majlis Belia Negeri Selangor
E-Sukan mampu mencetak nama Malaysia di pentas dunia. Memahami potensi, kekangan dan peranan yang perlu dimainkan semua pihak dalam melahirkan lebih ramai pemain E-Sukan yang berjaya, seterusnya menyokong pembangunan industri E-Sukan negara.
SRG cipta sejarah pasukan Malaysia pertama juarai MSC MLBB 2024
Jualan kereta di Malaysia diunjur cecah 765,000 unit
Persatuan Automotif Malaysia (MAA) melakukan semakan semula berkaitan sasaran jumlah keseluruhan industri (TIV) kepada 765,000 unit berbanding unjuran awal 740,000 unit untuk 2024. Semakan dibuat disokong oleh persekitaran ekonomi yang positif dan jumlah tempatan tertunggak yang masih berada pada tahap yang baik
Kementerian Digital cari kaedah kurangkan kos pelaksanaan sistem e-invois
Kerajaan sedang mencari kaedah mengurangkan kos pelaksanaan sistem e-invois untuk Perusahaan Kecil dan Sederhana (PKS) selepas sistem itu diwajibkan untuk semua perniagaan pada 1 Julai 2025
Perbelanjaan pengguna dijangka meningkat tahun ini
Perbelanjaan Pengguna Malaysia dijangka meningkat sepanjang tahun ini
dengan unjuran sebanyak RM904.6 bilion, ketika proses pemulihan ekonomi menunjukkan kemajuan pada ketika ini.
dengan unjuran sebanyak RM904.6 bilion, ketika proses pemulihan ekonomi menunjukkan kemajuan pada ketika ini.
![Suspek bunuh Nur Farah Kartini dibawa ke lokasi kejadian Suspek bunuh Nur Farah Kartini dibawa ke lokasi kejadian](https://resizer-awani.eco.astro.com.my/tr:w-177,h-100,q-100,f-auto/https://img.astroawani.com/2024-07/71721123609_lokasi.jpg)
Suspek bunuh Nur Farah Kartini dibawa ke lokasi kejadian
Suspek kes pembunuhan Nur Farah Kartini Abdullah dibawa ke lokasi kejadian di ladang kelapa sawit di Kampung Sri Keledang, Hulu Bernam, Selangor.
Beberapa kementerian bincang perketat undang-undang - Fahmi
Penambahbaikan aspek perundangan akan diteliti kerajaan, termasuk mengadakan perbincangan dengan beberapa kementerian berkaitan dalam masa terdekat, bagi memperketatkan undang-undang berkaitan buli siber.
Denda terhadap syarikat ADSSB lewat bekal Black Hawk
Adly berkata, pihak ADSSB juga turut telah memohon tuntutan lanjutan masa kedua kepada pihak kementerian.
Faisal Halim berduka pemergian Kim Pan-gon
Pemain kebangsaan, Faisal Halim, meluahkan rasa kekecewaan menerusi laman Instagramnya ekoran pengumuman mengejut Kim Pan-gon meletakkan jawatan sebagai Ketua Jurulatih Skuad Kebangsaan serta-merta.
Sebelum ini, jurulatih berusia 55 tahun itu meluangkan masa melawat tonggak Selangor itu ketika dimasukkan ke hospital akibat terkena simbahan asid di sebuah pusat beli belah di Lembah Klang.
Sebelum ini, jurulatih berusia 55 tahun itu meluangkan masa melawat tonggak Selangor itu ketika dimasukkan ke hospital akibat terkena simbahan asid di sebuah pusat beli belah di Lembah Klang.