The legal drama continues between actor Sean Penn and "Empire" co-creator Lee Daniels, with Daniels making the punches this time. Legal representatives for Daniels have filed a motion to strike and dismiss Penn's $10 million defamation lawsuit against him. In the word of Penn's iconic "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" character Jeff Spicoli, Daniels claims the allegations in the complaint are "bogus."
In his complaint, which was filed in September 2015, Sean Penn slammed Lee Daniels for using "false and defamatory" language referring to former's alleged abuses against women. The statement was made in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter wherein Daniels compares Penn to "Empire" show-runner Terrence Howard.
According to Jezebel, Lee Daniels said Terrence Howard "ain't done nothing different than Marlon Brando or Sean Penn, and all of the sudden he's some f*uckin' demon. That's a sign of the time, of race, of where we are right now in America."
Penn's lawsuit reads, "As a result of Penn's status as a public figure, he has for years been the subject of scandalous, scurrilous, and baseless attacks. But Penn, like any citizen, has a right to defend himself and will no longer tolerate the reckless and malicious behavior of others, who seek to aggrandize themselves or their projects at his expense."
Consequently, Penn is seeking monetary relief and to prevent Daniels and other people from further committing defamatory acts.
Daniels said in his motion that the statement he made in the interview was merely a "provocative rhetoric". But how does a provocative rhetoric go before it becomes a defamatory act?
In support of Daniels' accusation against Penn, he cited multiple evidences in his motion, including several articles from credible publications and an unauthorized Madonna biography titled "Madonna Revealed."
One of the notable questions Daniels asks in his motion is why Penn, nor his ex-wife Madonna, did not cry defamation and blast these publications with lawsuits at first instance.
Daniels' motion to strike and dismiss, however, makes an unconventional allusion to the Sean Penn movie "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" character Jeff Spicoli instead of bombarding the actor with legal jargon.
"To avoid being bogus, Jefferson and his contemporaries adopted the First Amendment, cherished protector of honest opinions and vigilant striker of lawsuits brought to punish and deter such opinions," the motion reads, as noted by Entertainment Tonight. "This 'cool rule' animates the California and New York laws that mandate dismissal of Penn's bogus claims."
Although Penn's lawsuit was filed in New York, Daniels is invoking California's anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuit against public participation) law which aims to bring down lawsuits that curtail the exercise of rights under the First Amendment.
Sean Penn's ex-wife Madonna submitted a sworn declaration stating that she did not in any suffer domestic violence under the actor.
"Sean has never struck me, 'tied me up,' or physically assaulted me, and any report to the contrary is completely outrageous, malicious, reckless and false," Madonna said in her affidavit.
Daniels, however, is confident that Madonna's statement does not strengthen Penn's position in the case.
