Charlize Theron Sounds Off on Sean Penn Engagement Rumors

Years after their split, Charlize Theron weighs in on speculation that she was engaged to actor and director Sean Penn

By Alyssa Ray Jun 22, 2020 10:19 PMTags
Watch: Charlize Theron Wins Best Date Award at 2020 Oscars

Setting the record straight.

On today's The Howard Stern Show, Charlize Theron slammed rumors that she almost married actor and director Sean Penn during their courtship. Not only did the Atomic Blonde actress categorize any engagement rumors as "such bulls--t," but she also noted they dated "barely a year."

This remark came about after Howard Stern asked for an update on her personal life and suggested that she "almost got married to Sean."

In order to clear the air, the Mad Max: Fury Road actress stated, "What? That's not true. No. I did not 'almost get married to Sean.' That's such bulls--t. We dated. That was literally all we did."

As E! readers surely know, news of Penn and Theron's split broke in June 2015, after about a year and a half together.

"We dated and then we didn't date," Theron continued. "It was a relationship, for sure. We were definitely exclusive, but it was for barely a year. We never moved in or…like, no, I wasn't gonna marry him. It was nothing like that."

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Continuing on this topic, the actress-producer clarified that she's "never wanted to get married" as it's "never been something that's important to me." For those concerned for her personal life, Theron assured listeners that she's "never been lonely" and called her children, Jackson, 8, and August, 3, the "great loves of my life."

"My life right now just doesn't allow for a lot of room for something like that to happen, something that's already incredibly difficult to achieve when you're not a single mom with a career," she said.

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Unfortunately for Theron, this isn't the first time she's had to speak out about her break-up from the Milk actor.

Following the twosome's highly publicized split, rumors circulated on the internet that Theron had ghosted Penn prior to the official break-up. Yet, for the April 2016 issue of WSJ magazine, the Bombshell actress revealed what really went down between the former flames.

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"There is a need to sensationalize things," the 44-year-old A-lister said at the time. "When you leave a relationship there has to be some f--king crazy story or some crazy drama.  And the f--king ghosting thing, like literally, I still don't even know what it is. It's just its own beast."

She added, "We were in a relationship and then it didn't work anymore.  And we both decided to separate. That's it."

Furthermore, in the interview with WSJ magazine, Theron sounded off on rumors about Penn potentially adopting her oldest child.

"The stories that Sean was going to adopt Jackson, and all of that was not true," Theron revealed. "It's not something that happens in 18 months. You can't do that to a child."

You can find Theron's full interview with Stern here.