Sean Penn Defends Criticisms Against His ‘Experiential Journalism’ In Interviewing El Chapo

By Jenn Loro - 18 Jan '16 14:39PM

Sean Penn defends himself for earlier criticisms regarding his credentials in interviewing such a notorious drug lord, Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman in Mexico.

"I'm really sad about the state of journalism in our country ... 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," Sean Penn said in 60 Minutes further mentioning his decision to let the gangster take a look at the actor's drafts before publishing it, LA Times said.

"What was brokered for me to have the interview with El Chapo was that I would finish the article, send it to him, and if he said no, then that was no harm, no foul to any reader," he further said.

The 10,000-word article sent to Rolling Stone is criticized for 'being very sympathetic' for a drug tycoon like Guzman. Some commented that Penn's article reeks of 'experiential journalism.'

But during the interview with Charlie Ross, the 55-year old actor explained that he writes as a human being who spends time with another human.

"I don't have to be the one that reports on the alleged murders or the amount of narcotics that are brought in. I go and I spend time in the company of another human being, which everyone is. And I make an observation and try to parallel that, try to balance that with the focus that we - that I believe we - we tend to put too much emphasis on," he said.

It was in October when the award-winning actor travels to Mexico with the help of a soap opera actress, Kate del Castillo. The article was only published in the music magazine last month. The drug lord, meanwhile, escaped from prison last summer, according to USA Today.

This is not the first time that Sean Penn had extreme escapades. In 2002, he had his first interview at 60 Minutes when he went to Iraq in the heights of US-led coalition invasion and his criticisms against the dictator Saddam Hussein. In 1999, Penn was interviewed as he made headlines for crimes like jail for brawling and reckless driving, CBS News remembered.