Actor Sean Penn, 64, made his red carpet debut with his new much-younger girlfriend at the Marrakech Film Festival.
Penn and 30-year-old actress Valeria Nicov showed up together on the second day of the event in Marrakesh, Morocco on Nov. 30, where the Oscar-winning actor received the Festival Star Award.
Nicov posed for pictures wearing a strapless black gown and her hair in a bun, while Penn matched his date by sporting a black suit and tie.
Before stepping out with Penn in Morocco’s fourth-largest city, Nicov acted in several projects such as “Paris Pigalle,” Chacun chez soi,” and “Ténor, ” according to her IMDb page.
According to Page Six, Penn and Nicov were photographed sharing a passionate kiss in Madrid, Spain in early September. They were seen locking lips again at the Los Angeles International Airport the following month.
In October, the couple flew to Paris, where they were seen walking the streets of Paris as Nicov held on to his arm.
Penn’s 34-year age gap with Nicov became a major talking point of online commentary about the couple’s red carpet debut in Morocco. One person in The Daily Mail’s comment section posted, “Looks like grandpa with granddaughter.”
A second individual added, “Penn is a tremendous actor but he is one really strange person. That was nice of him to take his daughter to the film festival.”
In addition, someone pointed out, “When Sean Penn was 40 years old, his new girlfriend was 6 years old. The more you know!”
Some people referred to their relationship as “gross” and “creepy,” while some wondered, “Why this is normal behavior is beyond me.”
A few even zoomed in on Nicov’s oversized dress including one who asked, “Is she already pregnant? I feel like they haven’t been dating that long for her to be that pregnant? Or maybe they’ve been dating longer than people thought. It just doesn’t add up.”
Another said, “It’s quite obvious that she is pregnant. I wonder what she saw in him.”
Penn played a teenage stoner in 1982’s coming-of-age comedy “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” as Jeff Spicoli. His filmography also includes series like “Little House on the Prairie” and movies like “The Falcon and the Snowman,” “Colors,” “Dead Man Walking,” “I Am Sam,” “Mystic River,” and “Asphalt City.”
As far as his dating history, he’s been involved with several famous women such as actress Elizabeth McGovern, 63, singer Jewel, 50, “Charlies Angels” star Charlize Theron, 49, and actress Scarlett Johansson, who turned 40 last month.
Penn has tied the knot three times. He was married to pop music superstar Madonna, 66, from 1985 to 1989. The then-newlyweds both starred in the 1986 motion picture “Shanghai Surprise” as well.
Additionally, Penn was married to “House of Cards” star Robin Wright, 58, for nearly 15 years before they divorced 2010. (The two appeared in the 1990 film “State of Grace” together as their respective characters’ love interests.) Wright gave birth to their two children, 33-year-old daughter Dylan in 1991 and 31-year-old son Hopper in 1993.
The Malibu, California, native exchanged vows for a third time with Australian actress Leila George, 32, in 2020. However, she filed for divorce the following year, and their separation was finalized in 2022.
Fast forward to June 2023, People magazine and other outlets began reporting that Penn was dating Ukrainian actress Olga Korotyayeva, 44, after being spotted in Rome together.
They reportedly dated for about five months before reports began romantically linking Penn to 40-year-old, Peruvian-Australian actress Nathalie Kelley. In Dec. 2023, TMZ ran an article about Penn’s weekend rendezvous with Kelley at Art Basel in South Beach Miami.
After his three failed marriages, Penn told the New York Times in June 2024, “I’m just free.”
He continued, “If I’m going to be in a relationship, I’m still going to be free, or I’m not going to be in it, and I’m not going to be hurting. I don’t sense I’ll have my heart broken by romance again.”
The 2024 Marrakech Film Festival started on Nov. 29 and runs through Dec. 2024. Italian actress Valeria Golino presented Penn with the Festival Star Award. Golino appeared in Penn’s directorial debut “The Indian Runner” in 1991.
