Actor Sean Penn spoke with the Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman in an interview for Rolling Stone that was published Saturday.
Using an elaborate plan, Guzman escaped from a high security prison seven months ago and had been on the run. Authorities announced that they captured him Friday, a day before the Rolling Stone piece was published.
Penn’s article had an extensive editor’s note tacked to the top which stated that the article had been reviewed by the subject, who had made no changes, and that some names and locations had been changed.
Penn went on to describe his encounter with Guzman and how it was arranged (via Kate Del Castillo, a Mexican actress who Penn wrote supported Guzman) in great detail.
Penn outlined the ways he secretly arranged to meet Guzman and how he flew from LA to a jungle for a seven hour discussion with the drug kingpin.
“He is interested in the movie business and how it works,” Penn wrote. “He’s unimpressed with its financial yield.”
When Guzman asked Penn how much he would be paid for writing the article, Penn said he responded, “when I do journalism, I take no payment.”
A Q&A between Guzman and Penn appears at the bottom of Penn’s narrative. Mexican officials said it was Penn’s interview that led them to Guzman.
In a comment to the Associated Press, Penn said Monday that he has “nothin’ to hide.”
Read the full piece.
Watch a clip of Penn’s interview:
