Clearly, Sean Penn, 57, didn’t pay attention to any of the “No Smoking” signs throughout the Ed Sullivan theatre, as the I Am Sam actor lit up not one, but two cigarettes during the March 26 episode of The Late Show. “I thought you would do that,” Stephen Colbert, 53, pulling out an ashtray. The two went on to talk Sean leaving acting, his lack of energy (“You’ve inherited a little of the Ambien I had to take to get to sleep after a red-eye last night”) and his new dystopian novel, Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff.
It didn’t really matter what Sean said to some viewers, as some were just shook at what they were witnessing. “Stephen Colbert, why did you allow Sean Penn to smoke on your show?” on user tweeted. “We are appalled that you would condone his smoking on your show. You and your crew must know that doing so was in violation of the NYC Smoke Free Air Act and exposed hundreds in the theatre to secondhand smoke.” He’s right. The SFAA of 2002 restricts people from smoking indoors in “office buildings, factories, and warehouses,” “all bars, including bars in restaurants,” and “all areas of theatres,” according to NYC.gov. 15 years after NYC went smoke-free, viewers were just amazed at seeing a celebrity smoke on television.
“Sean Penn is smoking on Colbert. I haven’t seen that on a talk show since my last Dick Cavett rerun,” another user tweeted. Oh, the times, they have changed. While Stephen was prepared for Sean to not go 10 minutes without a cigarette, he did reprimand the two-time Oscar winner for his nasty habit. “Please don’t smoke anymore,” Stephen said, per People. “I don’t mind. My parents smoked when I was a child so it gives me happy memories to smell cigarette smoke but you know we want you to be around for a long time and those things are bad for you,”
Ok, @StephenAtHome was told that Sean Penn would probably be smoking, so he had an ashtray ready.
Why not just say "yeah, you're not doing that here". If Penn was going to be rude, knowing FULL WELL he shouldn't be smoking, then Colbert should too. This isn't Keith Richards.
— K. Scott Gant (@ksgant) March 27, 2018
Folks watching Sean Penn on #Colbert… pic.twitter.com/ptCttEp1D7
— Jennifer Baty (@JenBaty) March 27, 2018
It wasn’t all just laggy conversations about smoking and politics. Sean did muster up the energy to applaud the hundreds of thousands of protesters taking part in the March For Our Lives. He had praise for the Parkland survivors leading the way for a safer future, according to HuffPost. “Within days of that not only are they stating their case with incredible sobriety and articulate words but in such an inclusionary way,” said Penn. “You feel like there are reasonable people who have been on the other side of this conversation who are gonna listen to these kids.”