“My article has failed”, said Penn.
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“Yes, I had a bad regret”, Penn told Charlie Rose for Sunday’s 60 Minutes.
NEW YORK (AP) – Sean Penn says his article on Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman “failed” in its mission.
Penn also used the interview to rebut claims from Mexican officials that his meeting with El Chapo contributed to the drug lord’s recapture. “One per cent? I think that’d be generous”, the actor said.
Penn and Rolling Stone also took the blame for allowing Guzman to review Penn’s article before it was sent to press. “At the same time, you know, when…’journalists’ who want to say that I’m not a journalist – well, I want to see the license that says that they’re a journalist”.
“I do what i call experiential journalism”, he said. “I’m really sad about the state of journalism in this country”, Penn told Rose.
60 Minutes airs Sunday nights at 7 p.m. only on CBS.
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Mexico’s Attorney General has said Penn’s contacts with El Chapo were “essential” to helping them track down the fugitive, who escaped from prison in July past year. Asked by Rose why he wanted to do the interview, Penn suggested that people may vilify El Chapo too much. A government spokesman said earlier this week that Mexico was not directly investigating Penn and del Castillo, but rather the circumstances surrounding the meeting.
A Mexican newspaper published alleged text messages between del Castillo and Guzman’s attorney, Andres Granados, in which they appeared to discuss the possibility of the drug lord investing in her tequila company, Honor del Castillo.
Rose: They wanted to encourage the cartel to put you in their crosshairs?
“I can be very, you know, flamboyant in my words sometimes”, Penn said.
The Oscar victor sat down for a seven-hour interview with the crime boss as part of an article he was hoping to write about the war on drugs for Rolling Stone magazine.
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But Penn isn’t pleased that the focus of much of the coverage has centered around the star himself and his “swashbuckling exploits” in the Mexican jungle with Mexican actress Kate del Castillo, as reported by US today.
