Sean Penn Tells Bill Maher: Reporters Should Be Jailed for Calling Chavez 'Dictator' (VIDEO)
Video: Sean Penn on Bill Maher -- March 8, 2010
The quote comes at the 2:45 mark.
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UPDATE: Earlier today Penn had a problem with a reporter's question. We have the reporter's iPhone video. Pretty solid entertainment as Penn is forced to confront the insanity of his recent comment that he "hopes his critics die of rectal cancer."
** NEW VIDEO IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE STORY **
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Original story:
First Amendment be damned . . . If Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn had his way, any journalist who called Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez a dictator would quickly find himself behind bars.
Penn, appearing on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" on Friday, defended Chavez during a segment in which he detailed his work with the JP Haitian Relief Organization, which he co-founded.
"Every day, this elected leader is called a dictator here, and we just accept it, and accept it" said Penn, winner of two Best Actor Academy Awards. "And this is mainstream media, who should -- truly, there should be a bar by which one goes to prison for these kinds of lies."
It was just the beginning of a busy weekend for Penn. When asked on CBS' "Sunday Morning" about those who question his motives for his humanitarian work in Haiti, he said:
"Do I hope that those people die screaming of rectal cancer? Yeah. You know, but I'm not going to spend a lot of energy on it."
Judge Andrew Napolitano, Fox News' senior judicial analyst, said the same constitutional protection that applies to journalists also applies to Penn, who can say pretty much anything he wants in the "political arena" -- aside from an immediate incitement of violence.
"What he is saying is protected, as wacky and weird as it is," Napolitano told FoxNews.com. "But the substance of what he's saying would be absolutely contrary to the First Amendment, which fully protects all political opinions. So if a journalist says Dick Cheney should go to jail, the journalist is privileged to say that."
"Mr. Penn is calling for a communist-like regime in which journalists who criticize the government are sent to jail because of that criticism," Napolitano added. "That is utterly un-American and hasn't happened here since the Civil War."
Lis Wiehl, a former federal prosecutor and Fox News legal analyst, echoed Napolitano’s comments, saying Penn’s statement is "completely counter" to First Amendment protections.
"Unless you're yelling 'fire' in a crowded theatre, i.e. stirring up immediate violence, you have the right as an American to voice your opinion, even if others (including Penn) disagree," she wrote FoxNews.com. "And, yes, Penn has the right to voice his opinion as well -- that's the beauty of the First Amendment. And, don't forget, truth is an absolute defense to any defamation or slander lawsuit."
According to a study by the Business and Media Institute, news coverage pertaining to Chavez from 1998 to 2006 found the Venezuelan president's human rights record was mentioned in only 10 percent of stories, and he was described as a leftist in 12 percent of stories.
Napolitano, meanwhile, said Penn apparently prefers "thuggery" to democracy.
"In light of his ignorance of freedom of speech, his wishing rectal cancer on his detractors, and his embracing tyrants, Mr. Penn obviously prefers thuggery to democracy," he continued. "Were he free to do so, he'd be a tyrant. Now we'll see if he can get me jailed for saying that!"
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(Screenshot...video is above)
DailyBail
A Yeas & Nays reporter was publicly berated and threatened to be escorted out by police on Thursday night when the reporter asked actor Sean Penn a controversial question about his humanitarian work in Haiti.
Penn, who recently has been criticized for his motivations in helping to rebuilding Haiti, recently told CBS News he hopes his critics "die screaming of rectal cancer."
Members of the media were invited to a gala hosted at the Washington Hebrew Congregation and were allowed to ask one question each of the actor in a closed-door news briefing.
When the Yeas & Nays reporter asked, "How have you seen your critics change since you mentioned that they should die of rectal cancer?" publicity coordinator C.J. Jordan interrupted to say the reporter was only allowed to talk about the Haitian benefit.
"You know, I think that you are investing in a culture that I am not interested in. And you should go your way," Penn said to the reporter, when she said her question was related to his involvement in Haiti.
Jordan ended the interview, and publicly scolded the reporter outside of the media room. Jordan told the reporter that to keep her job, she needed to write a letter of apology to the Haitian ambassador. The publicity coordinator then threatened to have the reporter escorted out of the building by the police.
"You desecrated this sacred place," Jordan said.
The congregation's Rabbi Bruce Lustig attempted to take the reporter's recording device and delete the material. The reporter was approached by police and threatened to be escorted out, even though she responded calmly and exited quickly.
Bill Maher asked Penn a similar question about his rectal cancer comment on his show last week.
Reader Comments (13)
i was reacting more to penn's calling for reporters to be jailed...the free speech angle of his comments...(and posted for this reason)...
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gULdDSQNMbw-z1DJugC6y1zAMJHwD9ECLKKO1
It is the left over fragments of Tory thought to protect the "divine right of Kings"...
At a time when so much is at stake, do we really need to hear from this moron?
And by the way, why is Haiti so cherished and Chili is never mentioned?
There is always a method to the madness...
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=17287
At a time when so much is at stake, do we really need to hear from this moron?
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freedom of speech is important to me and that's what the penn story represents...and the hypocrisy of liberals to condemn free speech makes it more interesting to me...plus it's a change of pace story...
but i get your point...