“I think you should call out Sean Penn and his reps for their blatant lie in the New York Post over how he didn’t demand to be cut out of Crossing Over and some shit about the role being ‘experimental.’

“All lies, all cover-up. Penn demanded that Harvey cut him out of the film because he had issues with the honor-killing storyline (which , in the film, isn’t even an honor killing). It should also be mentioned that once he was out Penn refused to refund the $1 million fee for five days work and [that] Weinstein forced director Wayne Kramer and producer Frank Marshall to pay $50 grand for half the cost of a reshoot day.

“I hate the idea that Penn’s behavior is being whitewashed by his reps. Even Harvey is pissed off that Penn put him in the position of having to choose between leaving him in the film or ending their professional relationship. By cutting Penn out, Harvey created the perception that Crossing Over was damaged goods (along with Harvey’s other butchering of scenes) since almost every critic has mentioned Penn’s involvement at one point in their opening review. Some have even drawn conclusions that Penn wanted out of the film because it allegedly sucked so bad.

“Make no mistake — Penn’s role in the film was important, and the film lost a lot of depth and emotional resonance (and a more spiritual ending) by cutting Penn out — not to mention a beautiful Alice Braga performance and the entire backstory to her character.

“Harvey Weinstein should be pressured into reinstating the Penn storyline in the DVD release. Clearly, there has been no controversy over the supposed ‘honor killing’ storyline, so there will be no heat on Weinstein if he does so. No one seems to care about it. What matters now is that on its own terms, as Peter Travers in Rolling Stone has said, ‘the scene, as it now stands, condemns a misguided individual, not an entire culture.’

“Penn knew exactly which Crossing Over script he was signing on for. The truth is that he suddenly ‘found religion’ when he got lobbied by the National Iranian American Council, an Iranian image watchdog group, and decided he didn’t want to contribute to the negative image Americans have of Iran.

“Maybe Penn should donate the million bucks he pocketed from Crossing Over to Amnesty International and help stop the actual honor killings that do take place in Iran, as well as executions (many of them stonings) and other human rights violations taking place on a daily basis.”