--- description: Sean Penn faced criticism for arguing that the #MeToo movement is too black and white and is dividing men and women. title: Sean Penn Says #MeToo Is Dividing Men and Women image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt27b9614ea54442bc/6988f82dbc6cfc0f913e4a54/seab-penn-trump-enemy-compassion.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [celebrities](/tag/celebrities/) ## celebrities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Sean Penn Criticized After Saying the Spirit of #MeToo Movement 'Is to Divide Men and Women'  by [Samantha Cooney](/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 17, 2018 7:17 PM CUT  Sean Penn attends the 7th Annual Sean Penn & Friends HAITI RISING Gala benefiting J/P Haitian Relief Organization on January 6, 2018 in Hollywood, California. Sean Penn attends the 7th Annual Sean Penn & Friends HAITI RISING Gala benefiting J/P Haitian Relief Organization on January 6, 2018 in Hollywood, California.Emma McIntyre—Getty Images  by [Samantha Cooney](/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 17, 2018 7:17 PM CUT [Sean Penn](http://time.com/5206110/sean-penn-book/ "undefined") faced criticism for calling the [#MeToo movement](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2017-silence-breakers/ "undefined") “too black and white” and saying that the national reckoning over sexual harassment and assault is dividing men and women. The Oscar winner [made the comments](https://www.today.com/popculture/sean-penn-says-spirit-much-metoo-movement-divide-men-women-t137531 "undefined") in an interview on NBC’s _Today_ show that aired Monday. In response to a question about whether the movement informed Penn’s new show _The First,_ which features three female astronauts, co-star Natascha McElhone said she felt her character was influenced by the movement. But Penn disagreed. “I’d like to think that none of it was influenced by what they call the movement of #MeToo,” Penn said. “I think it’s influenced by the things that are developing in terms of the empowerment of women who’ve been acknowledging each other and being acknowledged by men. This is a movement that was largely shouldered by a kind of receptacle of the salacious.” > [](https://twitter.com/TODAYshow/status/1041670355658715136) “The spirit of much of what has been the #MeToo movement is to divide men and women,” he added. “I think it’s too black and white. Most things that are very important, it’s really good to just slow down.” Penn’s comments [drew sharp criticism on social media](https://twitter.com/ChuckWendig/status/1041673463163969536 "undefined"). > [](https://twitter.com/ChuckWendig/status/1041673463163969536) > [](https://twitter.com/glosswitch/status/1041748518212460544) > [](https://twitter.com/%5FJennyHollander/status/1041699877917474818) > [](https://twitter.com/Shakestweetz/status/1041718245902954497) This isn’t the first time Penn has criticized #MeToo. In an interview with _The Guardian_ in May, he [described #MeToo](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/may/05/sean-penn-some-of-my-best-laughs-have-come-out-of-the-worst-reviews "undefined") as “not intellectually honest.” In Penn’s satirical novel, which came out in March, #MeToo was described as “infantilizing.” In a subsequent [interview with TIME about the book](http://time.com/5206110/sean-penn-book/ "undefined"), Penn said: “I fear that when groupthink becomes a media legislation of free speech, and a social media jury to convict anyone, it is no longer an American process, which is a due process. I think the greater issue here is that there are very serious changes that society needs to make to improve life for women, for homosexuals, for immigrants.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5398448/sean-penn-metoo-dividing-men-and-women/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5398448/sean-penn-metoo-dividing-men-and-women/"},"headline":"Sean Penn Criticized After Saying the Spirit of #MeToo Movement 'Is to Divide Men and Women'","datePublished":"2018-09-17T19:17:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T21:27:34.109Z","description":"His comments received criticism","url":"https://time.com/5398448/sean-penn-metoo-dividing-men-and-women/","keywords":["celebrities","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt27b9614ea54442bc/6988f82dbc6cfc0f913e4a54/seab-penn-trump-enemy-compassion.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Cooney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt27b9614ea54442bc/6988f82dbc6cfc0f913e4a54/seab-penn-trump-enemy-compassion.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"sean-penn-trump-enemy-compassion","caption":"sean-penn-trump-enemy-compassion","creditText":"Emma McIntyre—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5398448/sean-penn-metoo-dividing-men-and-women/","name":"Sean Penn Criticized After Saying the Spirit of #MeToo Movement 'Is to Divide Men and Women'"}}]}] ```