The pop superstar and the future Oscar-winning actor married in 1985, just six months after they first met on the set of her iconic “Material Girl” music video
Madonna and Sean Penn’s marriage may have been a tumultuous one, but the Queen of Pop was “genuinely in love” with the actor, according to the director of the music video that brought them together.
Speaking in archival audio featured in the new Sky documentary Becoming Madonna, Sharon Oreck, who produced the star’s iconic “Material Girl” music video, says, “She was genuinely in love with him, but it felt as if the attraction between the two of them was fueled by the public. He was the budding movie star, she was the budding rock star and the public demanded that they come together.”
“It was like a bomb went off, Oreck, 69, adds of when the pair started dating. “America’s bad boy and America’s bad girl.”
Madonna, now 66, and Penn, now 64, began dating in February 1985 after meeting on the set of the music video.
They tied the knot in Malibu, Calif., on Madonna’s 27th birthday, which was also the day before Penn’s 25th birthday, just six months after they first met.
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Their big day drew huge attention. In an audio clip featured in the documentary, Madonna admits she “couldn’t hear the vows” during the ceremony because of the helicopters flying above.
“There were 10 helicopters hovering above everything, so you couldn’t hear anything. It got Sean riled up,” adds her brother Christopher Ciccone, who is also featured in Becoming Madonna. Ciccone died in October 2024 at age 63.
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“Sean Penn was pretty pissed off and I guess wrote something like, “F— you,” in the sand so the helicopters could read it,” director Susan Seidelman, who directed Madonna in the 1985 film Desperately Seeking Susan, says in the documentary.
“I don’t think she wanted the wedding to be like that,” Christopher adds. “She was trying to stop Sean from doing stupid s—. Looking back, all the craziness that went on [at the wedding], I think it may have been a bad omen for the future.”
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Just over two years later, in December 1987, Madonna filed for divorce. “There was no one direct incident leading up to this,” her rep told PEOPLE at the time. “It was a series of cumulative pressures. There were many moments in their marriage when it was shaky, and Madonna was finally forced to face the reality of the situation — that they weren’t happy together.”
The Los Angeles Times reported that Madonna requested to withdraw her divorce filing within less than two weeks, but the singer later filed for divorce for good in January 1989.
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Despite their rocky marriage, the pair have remained on good terms, and in 2016, Madonna said she was “still in love” with Penn and even offered to remarry him if he bid $150,000 in a charity auction.
Her comments came as she hosted a charity gala at Art Basel in Miami, where she raised more than $7.5 million for the African nation of Malawi, according to the Associated Press.
Becoming Madonna is now streaming on Sky Documentaries.
Source people.com
