MOVIES - March 1, 1988

It was the media--not Sean Penn--that caused Madonna to file for divorce last December. So said the actor in a rare interview with the Chicago Tribune published this week. Penn told the paper that the divorce talk “was more People magazine than reality.” He also placed blame for the couple’s marital difficulties on his wife’s fans: “The public is very possessive about rock stars and about her in particular. They don’t want to share their love. And if anybody took her, I think they thought it should have been someone more acceptable, like Donald Trump.” As for his brawling, Penn claims those days are over. “I just have to refocus myself in another direction.”