Youngster Gets Support From ‘Penguin’ Star

A teen-ager sent home from school for wearing a Penguin T-shirt from this summer’s “Batman Returns” movie got some support from the web-footed villain himself, in the person of Danny DeVito.

James Bateman, 14, was told to go home and change on Nov. 4 by Colorado City School District Principal Lawrence Steed. Bateman’s mother, Trudie, said that Steed deemed the T-shirt inappropriate for school and that he claimed it represented devil worship.

Stan Rosenfield, DeVito’s Los Angeles-based publicist, said the actor read about the case and sent Penguin merchandise to the teen-ager. “Danny was very upset to know that his character was being connected to devil worship,” Rosenfield said.