Sean Penn has revealed in a recent interview that he has a Barbie-like voodoo doll of US columnist and best-selling author, Ann Coulter, which he frequently abuses and attacks whenever angry, following her insensitive views about Penn's father, Leo Penn, who died of lung cancer in 1998.

Sean Penn owns a voodoo doll designed to look like Ann Coulter
Sean Penn owns a voodoo doll designed to look like Ann Coulter

The actor's anger towards the political commenter, arose from the effects of her 2003 best-selling book, 'Treason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terrorism', in which she attempts to provide a revisionist look at U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy, supporting his views for the blacklisting of major Hollywood celebrities for their socialist views, and putting forward the idea that communist spies really had infiltrated the US Government. Penn's father, Leo Penn, had been a member and supporter of Hollywood trade unions, and chose to stand up to the McCarthy witch hunt, leading to he himself being blacklisted. 

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Frustration towards the author's lack of respect for both Penn and other persecuted celebrities has led to the Academy Award-winning actor taking his deep-seated aggression out on a voodoo doll. He explains: "We violate her. There are cigarette burns in some funny places. She's a pure snake-oil salesman. She doesn't believe a word she says." 

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Following his blacklisting status, Leo Penn had his contract revoked by Paramount pictures, and never worked as an actor in movies again. He did start working in television, however, but when an unidentified source claimed that he had attended a political meeting, CBS forced him to leave the channel as well, effectively ending his entire acting career there and then. After being bared from acting, he was able to pursue a career in directing, earning a nomination for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series for 'The Mississippi'.