Website publishes retraction after weekend editor mistakes New Yorker satirical piece for news story, following actor’s El Chapo interview

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

The Hollywood trade site Deadline has apologised after erroneously reporting that the Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn was due to meet the Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Deadline published a full retraction on Sunday after claiming Penn’s efforts to secure a meeting with the leader of the extremist group had been rebuffed.



“A Deadline weekend editor misinterpreted a humorous story posted on the New Yorker website today and filed as a Deadline news story a supposed canceled meeting between the head of Isis and Sean Penn,” the apology reads. “The story, which was quickly stricken from the site, has no basis in truth and is a regrettable error. Deadline Hollywood apologises to Mr Penn.”

Did Sean Penn inadvertently have a hand in El Chapo's recapture? Read more

The erroneous article appears to have been rewritten from a piece by the regular New Yorker satirist Andy Borowitz, for the Borowitz Report. The column boasts previous entries with headlines such as “Poll: Republicans would rather actually be shot by gun than agree with Obama”, “Oregon considers wall to keep out angry white men” and “Trump’s focus on Muslims distracting him from campaign against Mexicans, supporters fear”.

David Chen (@davechensky) .@ashleyfeinberg does a good job of summing up this afternoon's Deadline/New Yorker shenanigans https://t.co/WY32C6Lb1N

Deadline’s retracted news story no longer appears on the site, but Borowitz’s satirical piece – headlined “Isis chief abruptly cancels meeting with Sean Penn” – remains online. The article riffs on Penn’s apparent willingness to associate with unsavoury characters after the news that his latest interviewee, the drug kingpin El Chapo, has been captured by Mexican authorities.



“For his part, the Isis spokesman said that al-Baghdadi hoped that Penn would harbour ‘no hard feelings’ toward him, and emphasised that he remained an ‘enormous fan’ of the actor,” reads the piece, continuing: “‘Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi loves all of Sean’s films, even that one he did with Madonna,’ the spokesman said.”

Needless to say, Deadline was roundly lampooned on Twitter following the error.

zachary paul sire (@ZacharySire) Basically your aunt on Facebook is a Deadline editor https://t.co/Tt194F9gRG

YUNG HEZZY (@andrewschulz) Haha that @Deadline article about Sean Penn meeting the leader of ISIS was actually a @NewYorker satire. Hollywood really in their own world