Thandiwe Newton, a British actress, has slammed Oscar winner Sean Penn’s recent remarks that American men are becoming “wildly feminized.” Penn, who won Oscars for The Milk and Mystic River, raised eyebrows late last month when he stated that masculinity isn’t exclusively toxic.
With a series of tweets, the Westworld star attacked Penn’s views: “Dude what are you saying? Like for real? You’re a jibbering fool… you used to be sexy but now you’re just tragic.”
The “Crash” and “Westworld” star added, “In front of your daughter!? That poor little mite. Thank God her Mum’s so dope. Please stop ruining the brilliance of ‘Licorice Pizza’ with this nonsense.”
Sean Penn said in two separate interviews last month that ‘cowardly genes’ cause males to wear skirts and that American men have become ‘wildly feminized.’
Penn told a publication earlier this month, “I am in the club that believes that men in American culture have become wildly feminized. I don’t think that being a brute or having insensitivity or disrespect for women is anything to do with masculinity, or ever did. But I don’t think that [in order] to be fair to women, we should become them.”
Later, the actor was asked to clarify his remarks in an interview with the British daily The Independent.
”I think that men have, in my view, become quite feminised. I have these very strong women in my life who do not take masculinity as a sign of opposition toward them. There are a lot of, I think, cowardly genes that lead to people surrendering their jeans and putting on a skirt,” he remarked.
Penn was promoting his latest movie, Flag Day, in which he co-stars with his daughter, Dylan. The picture, which has gotten mixed reviews, is also directed by Penn.
Penn’s statements about males becoming “quite feminized” left his daughter “quiet, staring into space.”
Thandiwe is a BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning actress who has appeared in films such as Mission: Impossible 2, Crash, W, and Westworld.
The 61-year-old and his 30-year-old wife, Australian actress Leila George, recently divorced. After little over a year of marriage, she filed for divorce last October.