Madonna Serves Divorce Papers on Penn, Paper Reports

Madonna has served divorce papers on her hot-tempered husband, actor Sean Penn, after two stormy years of marriage, the Daily News reported Friday.

The singer Madonna was reportedly angered by Penn because he went four days without talking to her and then turned up at their New York home expecting to spend Thanksgiving with her, the News said.

Madonna left to spend Thanksgiving with her relatives and Penn left for Los Angeles.

Penn’s press agent, Lois Smith, told the News that Madonna had recently served the divorce papers on Penn.

“I know the tendency in these matters is to always blame him, but it is really too bad because these two people love each other,” she said.

The actor reportedly told friends at a New York restaurant Wednesday of the development, the News said in a story by celebrity columnist Liz Smith.

The newspaper quoted Madonna, who rocketed to stardom with such songs as “Like a Virgin” and “Material Girl,” as telling friends she and Penn were “just not communicating anymore.”

Penn, 27, the star of such films as “The Falcon and the Snowman,” and Madonna, 28, were married Aug. 16, 1985, at a ceremony on a bluff overlooking the Pacific in Malibu, Calif.

The actor has been repeatedly in the headlines over his brawls. He was placed on probation in 1985 for hitting a friend of his wife, who kissed the singer in a nightclub. He then violated the probation by hitting an extra on a movie set and driving recklessly and was sentenced to 60 days in jail in Los Angeles last summer.

Penn served 33 days and was released for good behavior.

He also has been arrested for attacking two photographers who tried to take Madonna’s picture in Nashville, Tenn., and punching a man who spoke with her in a Los Angeles restaurant.