One year after their intimate pandemic wedding, Sean Penn and Leila George are calling it quits.
The Australian actress—who is also the daughter of Law & Order actor Vincent D’Onofrio—made their split official on Friday, filing paperwork at the Los Angeles Superior Court, as first reported by TMZ. The pair dated for four years before marrying in July 2020 during a small home ceremony surrounded by family. Penn confirmed the big news just days later during an appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers. When asked about the rumors of their nuptials, the actor raised his left hand to show off his wedding band, telling Meyers, “We did a COVID wedding. By that I mean it was a county commissioner on Zoom, we were at the house, my two children and her brother, and we did it that way.”
While Penn and George have been dating since 2016, a friend told People in August that they reunited at the beginning of 2020 after a period of being on-again, off-again. The source explained, “They got together and then they broke up, and Sean won her back. He realized he had made a mistake and when he felt he might lose her, he worked hard to get her back.” They added that their time alone together in quarantine helped to strengthen their connection and they found renewed purpose working on humanitarian initiatives together, like setting up COVID-19 testing sites around Los Angeles. “They got back together during COVID and became really close and got engaged a few months ago, early during quarantine,” they said.
This is George’s first marriage and Penn’s third. He was previously married to Madonna from 1985 to 1989 and Robin Wright from 1996 to 2010. He also has two children from his marriage to Wright, a 30-year-old daughter, Dylan, and a 28-year-old son, Hopper.
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