Inveterate smoker Sean Penn apparently wouldn’t even let a White House visit get in the way of his habit. (Watch the video below.)
The Oscar-winning actor said on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” Thursday he was at President Joe Biden’s state dinner for Kenyan President William Ruto last month. That prompted Kimmel to mention that the White House is a place where “you’re not supposed to smoke.”
“Well, I did go to one of the honor guard and I asked where it was exactly that President Obama would sneak his cigarettes,” Penn said. “And they took great delight in escorting me to that place every time I needed to go.”
“What a tribute to President Obama,” Kimmel joked.
The former president (who appeared briefly at the state dinner) wrote in his memoir that he smoked up to 10 cigarettes a day in the White House and searched for a “discreet location to grab an evening smoke.”
Kimmel and Penn spent considerable time on the actor’s addiction, and the “Daddio” star launched a few self-deprecating lines about it.
“I never did smoke. I’ve only ever done job security for oncologists,” he cracked.
He also said he took solace in a quotation he paraphrased from writer Charles Bukowski: “Find something you love and let it kill you.”
Fast forward to 2:45 for Penn’s tobacco adventure in the White House:
