Sean Penn© GettyImages

Sean Penn rescues journalist stranded in Palm Springs desert

Penn rescued Golden Globes pre-show host Marc Malkin after he was stranded in the Palm Springs desert.


Senior Writer
JANUARY 8, 2024 1:31 PM EST

Sean Penn rescued a journalist stranded in the desert.

Marc Malkin, the Variety journalist known for his Golden Globes pre-show, was stranded in the desert after attending the Palm Springs Film Festival hosted earlier this month. Penn came to his rescue, helping him return home to Los Angeles.

© GettyImages

Sean Penn and Dakota Johnson

Page Six sources attending some Golden Globe parties shared that Malkin attended the film festival over the past week on his electric vehicle, which unexpectedly ran out of battery on his way home. Malkin managed to get his car to a charging station in Cabazon, California, where he saw Penn charging his own car. “Marc looked to one side, and Sean Penn was charging his car – and he looked to his other side and saw Mara Buxbaum (Penn’s longtime publicist) charging her car,” said the source.

Malkin’s car wouldn’t charge, so he tried to put the car in neutral and hoped to push it to a different charger, getting it to charge. “Mara came up to him and asked if he needed his car pushed,” said the source. “She said, ‘You need someone to push your car?’” As Malkin steered the car, he realized that Penn was pushing it and helping him along.

“It was the funniest thing ever,” said the source. “Sean was a real-life hero.”

Sean Penn’s love life

© GettyImages

Nathalie Kelley, Penn’s new girlfriend


A couple of months ago, Sean Penn was photographed alongside Nathalie Kelley, a Peruvian-Australian actress who appears to be his new girlfriend. The two were photographed spending December in Miami, holding hands as they walked down the beach.

Kelley was born in Lima, Peru, and has discussed the importance of her heritage. “We come from an amazing lineage and historical legacy in that my ancestors were master astronomers, agriculturalists and engineers. My ancestors built Machu Picchu,” she said in an interview with Riise. She’s also an activist, something that likely unites her to Penn, known for his humanitarian work in countries like Haiti and the Ukraine.