Sean Penn said on “60 Minutes” Sunday the Mexican government put his life in danger after he worked to arrange an interview with the then-fugitive narcocriminal known as “El Chapo.”
Penn said he agreed to interview El Chapo, whose real name is Joaquin Guzman Loera, to highlight the war on drugs and the impact of drugs on American society. Penn met the the drug lord days before El Chapo’s capture by Mexican forces.
“I say, I can’t make him better or worse than me, if I’m not out there doing everything that I can to get a conversation going on the way in which we prosecute that war,” Penn said.
He detailed his meeting with El Chapo in a 10,000-word article published in Rolling Stone Magazine.
Charlie Rose, who interviewed Penn, asked the actor if he believed the Mexican government released information on Penn’s role to “because they want to see you blamed, and put you at risk?”
“Yes,” Penn answered.
“They wanted to encourage the cartel to put you in their crosshairs?” Rose asked.
“Yes,” Penn repeated.
Penn also faulted media coverage of his efforts.
“I’m really sad about the state of journalism in this country,” he said.
“I have a regret that the entire conversation about this article ignores its purpose, which was to try to contribute to this discussion on the policy in the war on drugs,” Penn said.
“We all want this drug problem to stop, we all want the killings in Chicago to stop,” Penn said. “If you’re on the moral right, or the far left, just as many of your children are doing these drugs.”
