betrayals

Kate del Castillo Feels ‘Betrayed’ and ‘Used’ by Sean Penn Because of His El Chapo Article

Betrayal! Scandal! Photo: Getty Images

Okay, people, time to refresh! Since last time, the Mexican authorities recaptured the infamous drug lord Joaquín Guzmán, better known as El Chapo, in part because he wanted to meet Mexican telenovela star Kate del Castillo, who brought along Sean Penn, who later wrote about the meeting for Rolling Stone. Well, the Mexican government wants to question del Castillo for her ties with El Chapo, but she failed to turn up at the Mexican consulate in Los Angeles, where she lives. Uh-oh!

Not so fast! Del Castillo’s lawyer, Harland Braun, said that his client is willing to talk about El Chapo. But what she really wants to talk about, gentle souls, is betrayal. “She didn’t know Penn was going to write for Rolling Stone.” Braun said. “After the interview she had no choice about it. Once Penn and Guzmán agreed on the article, what was she going to do? She signed off after they had done so.”

“That’s what made her feel really betrayed by these people,” Braun said, referring to Penn and the two people with him. “The three of them go together and basically used her and didn’t tell her.”

Meanwhile, at least one U.S.-government official thinks Penn is using the entire Rolling Stone article as a cover. Under U.S. law, no American citizen can discuss business with a known drug lord (yes, there’s a list), so they believe Penn is using the First Amendment to avoid prosecution. “Sean Penn seems to be bending over backward to say it was purely journalistic, but the info we were given about the trip, there was never any reference to an interview for a Rolling Stone article until he met with El Chapo,” a government source told Fox News. “I think this was a very calculated move on the part of Sean Penn based on legal counsel to try and hide behind the freedom of the press and the First Amendment to avoid prosecution.”

What’s more, both U.S. and Mexican agents had been monitoring the meet-up between El Chapo, del Castillo, and Penn. Mexican agents wanted to go in, but the U.S. didn’t want to endanger Penn. “The Mexican military wanted to go in and get El Chapo, but the State Department did not want them to, because it would put Americans in danger. The State Department applied pressure to delay the siege until Penn and his crew were gone,” a source told Fox. So the U.S. government held off on capturing an international criminal so that Sean Penn could do an article? Oh my, there’s so much tension!

Kate del Castillo Feels ‘Betrayed’ by Sean Penn