It looks like Sean Penn’s previously pending paparazzi case is closed almost a year after the incident took place.

Penn plead no contest to vandalism after kicking a photographer in the knee, apparently giving the paparazzo a serious joint injury.  The actor got 36 months probation and 300 hours of community service, along with being required to pay an undisclosed sum of money.

Moral of the story: not even Sean Penn can get away with an occasional knee-kick every now and then.

Both sides have signed the required documents and the case is officially closed.

Hollywood justice has been served.

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Scarlett Johansson and Sean Penn’s reps can deny it all they like, but the duo are clearly romantically involved. Celebrity-gossip. net reports that the couple took a last minute trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico yesterday where they had a quick dinner because Johansson had to get back to L.A. in the morning to continue filming “We Bought a Zoo” with Matt Damon.

Earlier in the week, the twosome was seen lunching at the popular Los Angeles Cuban restaurant, Versailles, where the actor and actress seemed a little closer than friends as Johansson had her leg conspicuously draped over Penn.

After a two year marriage with Ryan Reynolds that ended in December, it’s no surprise that Johansson, one of the most sought after and popular young actresses, would be courted once again. Penn is somewhat of an interesting counterpart as he is about 25 years her senior. However, both are powerhouse actors with busy schedules. Maybe this relationship will work out a la Tom Cruise and Katy Holmes?

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Wyclef Jean announced that he will be running as a candidate for president of Haiti Thursday, and it wasn’t long before criticism started to come his way, reports E! Online.  Sean Penn appeared on CNN Thursday to publicly criticize Jean and what he believes his motives are being influenced by.

“Right now, I worry that this is a campaign that is more about a vision of flying around the world talking to people, it’s certainly not about the youth drafting him,” said Penn, commenting on Jean’s earlier statement about the youth of Haiti drafting him, rather than him simply running for president.

Penn, who currently resides in Haiti doesn’t believe that the response inside the country is anywhere near the kind of anticipation that people in the United States are building it up to be.

“This is somebody who’s going to receive an enormous amount of his support, if he continues this campaign, from the United States,” said Penn.  “I have to say, I’m very suspicious of it, simply because he, as an ambassador-at-large, has been virtually silent. For those of us in Haiti, he has been a non-presence.”

“One of the reasons I don’t know much about Wyclef Jean is I haven’t seen or heard anything in these last six months that I’ve been in Haiti. I think he’s an important voice, I hope he doesn’t sacrifice that voice by taking the eye off the very devastating realities off the ground and the very different strategic future it’s got in putting itself back together.”

It’s clear how Sean Penn feels about Wyclef Jean’s candidacy, what do you think?

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During a rescue mission to Haiti, actor Sean Penn personally saved at least two lives, reports TMZ. He and his daughter Dylan drove an hour-and-a-half to rescue a woman and an orphaned child who were trapped in rubble outside the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince.

The woman suffered leg injuries and the child had head injuries. Penn drove them to a University of Miami hospital camp to receive treatment. He then waited with them and took them back to his place to stay until they can find somewhere else to go.

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Sean Penn is going from Oscar to Stooge.

The “Milk” actor, who picked up his second Academy Award last month, has been cast as the violin-toting Larry in “The Three Stooges,” the Farrelly Brothers’ upcoming MGM comedy.

The movie will not be a biopic, but rather a modern take on the slapstick trio based on their classic film shorts.

And Penn isn’t the only big name attached to the MGM project. Variety reports that Jim Carrey is in final negotiations to play Curly – and is even planning to gain 40 pounds to play the rotund Stooge.

The studio is also reportedly pursuing Penn’s “21 Grams” co-star Benicio Del Toro to play the nose-tweaking, ear-twisting Moe.

The movie, which will be written and directed by Bobby and Peter Farrelly (“Dumb and Dumber,” “There’s Something About Mary”) is scheduled to begin production in early fall for a 2010 release.

The Three Stooges starred in nearly 200 shorts and movies between 1930 and 1975 and are best remembered for their physical slapstick comedy and snappy one-liners.

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Looks like Sean Pean and his wife Robin Wright Penn may not be divorcing after all.

E! Online reports the couple were granted a dismissal of their divorce petition on Tuesday.

Wright Penn filed for divorce in December, citing irreconcilable differences between the pair.

Penn was seen on the town with other women since their split, but apparently that was worked out.

Reps for the pair did not comment on the turn of events. The two were married in 1996 after first meeting in 1990.

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Sean Penn may have a $105 reminder of Canada.

The Toronto Star is reporting that Health Promotion Minister Jim Watson, is pushing to see Penn charged for violating the provincial smoking ban. The actor was seen lighting up inside during a press conference this week while promoting “All the King’s Men” at the Toronto International Film Festival.

“It was such a flagrant breach of the law. It absolutely should be a target,” said Michael Perly, executive director of the Ontario Campaign for Action on Tobacco told the Star.

“He should be charged,” Watson said during a press conference which was celebrating the first 100 days of the province’s smoking ban.

The Star reports that almost 500 tickets have been issued since the ban began in May to citizens and establishments who have broken the law.

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A new movie starring Sean Penn and Jude Law is set to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, according to festival organizers.

“All the King’s Men,” which also features Kate Winslet and Mark Ruffalo, follows a popular American politician through the dregs of scandal and corruption.

The film is based on a Robert Penn Warren novel, and was previously adapted for the big screen in 1948. The main character, Willie Stark (played by Penn in the new version), is partly based on the infamous Louisiana governor Huey P. Long.

The film festival, which runs from September 7-16, will also feature movies starring the likes of Susan Sarandon, Ralph Fiennes and Ed Harris.

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