THICK AS THIEVES

Sean Penn Met with El Chapo

Gave drug lord final approval over content of interview.

In a meeting arranged by Mexican actress Kate del Castillo, actor Sean Penn was granted an interview with notorious cartel head El Chapo before his capture. El Chapo had final approval over before publication. Penn met with El Chapo in the jungle in October. Penn claims that Chapo named corrupt major companies, including ones that laundered his money, but agreed not to name them. In the interview El Chapo talks about everything from how he met Pablo Escobar, to when he got involved in the business (age 15), how he believes that “drugs destroy” but he is not responsible, and how he does not consider himself a violent person. After their first meeting, their subsequent interviews were done over BBM with El Chapo sending his responses on video. Much of Penn’s introduction is devoted to placing the blame for El Chapo at the feet of Americans who consume his drugs, and El Chapo certainly agreed, saying in the interview, “If there was no consumption, there would be no sales. It is true that consumption, day after day, becomes bigger and bigger. So it sells and sells.”