Charlize: How my boyfriend Sean Penn gave up his guns for art’s sake
DJ sacked over racist weather song
OSCAR-winning star Charlize Theron has revealed how she persuaded boyfriend Sean Penn to allow his armoury of weapons to be turned into an artwork.
The actress, who shot to superstardom in the movie Monster in 2003, said she was proud that Penn had turned over the 67 weapons to US artist Jeff Koons, who is now planning to turn them into a sculpture. Koons is known for his reproductions of banal objects – such as balloon animals produced in stainless steel with mirror-finish surfaces.
The as yet unfinished artwork has THE BBC was accused of ‘appalling’ double standards last night after forcing a veteran DJ to quit after he innocently played an old version of The Sun Has Got His Hat On which featured the N-word.
David Lowe was ordered by bosses to ‘fall on your sword’ – even though Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson kept his job when he appeared to mumble the same racist term when unaired footage of him using a nursery rhyme to compare two sports cars was leaked to the media. Mr Lowe lost his job doing. i thought the gun sculpture was a very powerful way to do something that he wanted to do, in a way that will help a lot of people and will create something that, hopefully, Anderson really likes.’
Penn, 53, who is a recent convert to the anti-gun movement, hinted that Theron was the reason for his conversion during the star-studded auction.
without naming his girlfriend, he said that ‘a strong woman from South Africa’ changed his mind and prompted him to abandon his arsenal of weapons which he referred to as ‘my cowardly killing machines’. after playing a 1932 version of the song, on his Sunday night golden oldies show on BBC Radio Devon.
Unknown to Mr Lowe – a presenter who has spent 32 years with the BBC – the second verse features the line: ‘He’s been tanning n****** out in Timbuktu, now he’s coming back to do the same to you.’
The BBC took action after one listener complained and said he was ‘horrified’ by what he heard. But last night the BBC faced criticism over its treatment of the 68-yearold host, who had immedi- ately offered to apologise on air when he realised his ‘genuine error’.
Roy Corlett, Mr Lowe’s former boss, said: ‘To end David’s career in this way when Clarkson was given a rap on the knuckles is absolutely appalling. It is an outrageous way to treat a loyal and distinguished employee.’ Rejecting Mr Lowe’s offer to apologise, BBC bosses instead tried to silence him saying: ‘We prefer that you don’t mention anything about last week’s broadcast.’