The website Deadline was taken in this weekend by a fake report alleging that the leaders of the Islamic State had canceled a scheduled meeting with actor Sean Penn.

(Image courtesy CNN’s Brian Stelter)
The entertainment news site has since deleted its version of the fake report and issued an apology, reading, “A Deadline weekend editor misinterpreted a humorous story posted on The New Yorker website today and filed as a Deadline news story a supposed canceled meeting between the head of ISIS and Sean Penn.”
“The story, which was quickly stricken from the site, has no basis in truth and is a regrettable error. Deadline Hollywood apologizes to Mr. Penn,” the apology added.
The parody Sean Penn story was first “reported” by the New Yorker’s Andy Borowitz, who claims to be a satirist.
“Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the terror group known as ISIS, has cancelled a long awaited meeting with the actor Sean Penn,” he wrote Sunday, citing a fake spokesperson.
“The spokesman gave no reason for the abrupt cancellation, but said that al-Baghdadi no longer felt that meeting with Penn would be ‘prudent.’ A publicist for the film actor said that he was ‘disappointed’ by the sudden termination of his appointment with the ISIS chief, and noted that Penn had gotten himself outfitted in brand new desert-camo attire in preparation for the meeting.”
Borowitz’s article was published shortly after news broke this weekend that Mexican law enforcement officials had finally arrested the infamous drug kingpin Joaquin Guzman, also known as “El Chapo.” On Saturday, Rolling Stone magazine published a very long article written by Penn, who has spent some time interviewing the drug lord. Law enforcement officials say Penn’s interview with “El Chapo” helped lead to the high-profile arrest, ending a six-month manhunt.
Borowitz’s fake report, which Deadline fell for, riffed on the idea that Penn is bad luck for international criminals.
“For his part, the ISIS spokesman said that al-Baghdadi hoped that Penn would harbor ‘no hard feelings’ toward him, and emphasized that he remained an ‘enormous fan’ of the actor,” the New Yorker blogger wrote. “‘Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi loves all of Sean’s films, even that one he did with Madonna.'”