Thandiwe Newton blasts Sean Penn for ‘feminised men’ comment: ‘You used to be sexy but now you’re just tragic’

Actor Thandiwe Newton has slammed Sean Penn for his recent comments claiming ‘cowardly genes’ are making men ‘surrender’ trousers and ‘put on’ skirts. After Sean made these remarks and bemoaned American men getting ‘feminised’ in interviews, Thandiwe blasted him on social media.

Sharing a news report that talked about Sean’s comments on Twitter, the Westworld actor tagged Sean and wrote, “Dude what are you saying? Like for real? You’re a jibbering fool. You used to be sexy but now you’re just tragic.”

Sean’s comments came during the promotions of his film Flag Day, which also stars his daughter Dylan Penn. Referencing Dylan and Sean’s critically-acclaimed film Licorice Pizza, Thandiwe further tweeted, “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.”

Last month, Sean Penn said in two separate interviews that ‘cowardly genes’ are causing men to wear skirts, and that American men are now ‘wildly feminised’.

Speaking to INews in early January, he first said, “I am in the club that believes that men in American culture have become wildly feminised. 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 that month, in an interaction with The Independent, when asked to elaborate on his earlier comments, he added, “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 oppression toward them. There are a lot of, I think, cowardly genes that lead to people surrendering their jeans and putting on a skirt.”

Also read: Sean Penn says men are ‘feminised’ now: ‘Cowardly genes lead to them surrendering jeans and putting on skirt’

Thandiwe is an Emmy and BAFTA Award-winning actor, best known for her work in films like Mission: Impossible 2, Crash, W, and the TV series Westworld.