Sean Penn fears for his life over El Chapo film

SEAN PENN’S lawyers have warned that Netflix, the streaming service, “will have “blood on their hands” if a documentary about the actor’s meeting with El Chapo, the infamous Mexican drug lord, is released.

The Oscar-winner is said to fear for his safety over the suggestion he helped bring the criminal to justice by working with the US government.

However, Netflix is standing its ground, noting that Penn himself has discussed the bizarre meeting “in Rolling Stone and his many public comments since” and refusing to pull the “stranger-than-fiction” story.

The row centres on an audience that El Chapo granted Penn and Kate del Castillo, a Mexican actress, in October 2015. El Chapo, whose real name is Joaquín Guzmán Loera, was one of the world’s most wanted men. Just months later he was captured.

Netflix is to retell the encounter in The Day I Met El Chapo: The Kate del Castillo Story, based on the actress’s account. However, Penn’s team have demanded the film be pulled, claiming it implies he worked with the US officials and fears a retribution attack. Theodore J Boutrous Jr, Penn’s lawyer, warned Netflix it is “hereby on notice that blood will be on their hands if this film causes bodily harm”, according to The New York Times.

Mark Fabiani, a spokesman for Penn, said: “The notion that Mr Penn or anyone on his behalf alerted the Department of Justice to the trip is a complete fabrication and baldfaced lie.”