Bombshell Madonna book reveals new details about her explosive relationship with Sean Penn and how actor SPAT on snapper

New details about Madonna and Sean Penn's explosive romance have come to light in an excerpt from an upcoming book about the singer. 

Insight Editions is set to release Madonna: Into the Groove: An Intimate Portrait of the Queen of Pop, a new photo book featuring the work of famed rock & roll photographer Ken Regan and text by Tomás Mier.

The book, set to be released on October 27, captures the pivotal year Madonna, 67, transformed from a rising pop star into a global phenomenon.

A passage from the forthcoming release details a tense moment when Penn, 65, allegedly confronted Regan and spat on him for selling a photo of Madonna to Penthouse - an image the magazine used for its cover to promote a feature that contained older nude pictures of her inside, as per Vanity Fair. 

Penthouse published the controversial nude photos in 1985. They were originally taken in 1978 when Madonna was an unknown art model, and were bought without her approval.

Regan's assistant Craig Blankenhorn recalled how Madonna and Penn approached the photographer at the Live Aid benefit concert in Philadelphia and wanted to know why he sold one of his photos of her to the men's magazine.

Blankenhorn said that Regan - who died from cancer in 2012 at the age of 72 - explained he 'didn't know the backstory of the photographs being published' and 'didn't even know it was going to be on the cover initially.'

Blankenhorn went on: 'While they were having a discussion, Sean was behind Madonna, and I was behind Sean. Sean started spitting on Ken and the photo equipment. I had to mop things up, which I wasn't happy about.' 

He also recalled 'shoving' Penn and exchanging under-the-breath remarks with him.

'I'm a little bigger, and I'm not intimidated,' Blankenhorn said. 'Sean was more upset about her nude photos being leaked. I was on my hands and knees wiping Sean Penn's spit.'

Meanwhile, Regan recalled that Penn 'came at me', noting that while they had a 'bit of a scuffle' the confrontation stopped there.  

The Daily Mail has reached out to representatives for Madonna and Penn for comment. 

At the time, Penn had reconnected with the singer and would go on to marry her the following month. The pair would divorce four years later in 1989. 

The book also includes a number of images from Regan's 1985 sessions with Madonna. That year the singer was on her Virgin Tour, performed at Live Aid, and starred in the comedy Desperately Seeking Susan.

Mier, the book's author, told the Daily Mail in a statement: 'Flipping through Ken Regan's photos of Madonna in 1985 feels like traveling in time. I unfortunately never had the pleasure of meeting Ken, but through interviewing those who worked with him, I truly understand what made him such a visionary photographer: he approached his subjects with genuine empathy and respect.'

'These images are a perfect encapsulation of his talent, capturing the Queen of Pop at a pivotal, electric moment in her own career and in music history. It was an absolute honor to write the text accompanying these stunning photos of Madonna.'

'1985 was the exact moment Madonna transformed from a rising pop star into a cultural phenomenon. Looking at her in this era, you're seeing someone completely rewriting the pop rule book in real time.'

'Between the Virgin Tour, Desperately Seeking Susan, and Live Aid, it was a year of pure cultural domination. Madonna was and continues the ultimate pop queen blueprint — 1985 is simply when the world finally caught on.'

It comes after Madonna channelled her rage into her new album Confessions 2 as she took swipes at her ex-husband Penn and her late stepmother Joan.

The American pop icon talked about a 'movie star with deep blue eyes' in her track Bizarre, which is likely a reference to Penn, who she was married to for three and a half years in the eighties.

The lyrics accused Penn of being 'threatened by her' level of fame, and suggested the Hollywood actor wasn't prepared to 'share the red carpet' with her.

She also name checked the 1968 Shelby GT500 convertible she gave him as a wedding gift and his conviction for reckless driving in 1987.

Madonna has portrayed her relationship with Penn as intense and often turbulent, but she has consistently spoken of him with warmth in later years.

At a 2016 charity gala for his Haiti relief work, Madonna told him from the stage: 'I love you from the moment that I laid eyes on you. And I still love you just the same.'

So her new jibe may take the star by surprise, as it was previously understood that they still had a mutual respect and liking for each other.

In 2024 Penn once again denied the wild rumor that he physically abused Madonna, insisting: 'She's someone I love.'

During their turbulent marriage in the 1980s, sensational claims surfaced that he tied her to a chair on one occasion and struck her with a baseball bat on another.

Both Madonna and Sean have staunchly denied he was ever violent with her, and she even testified on his behalf in a defamation lawsuit over the allegations.

Penn cleared the air on the issue again - while admitting one of their marital squabbles resulted in a SWAT team arriving at their home.

Madonna supposedly called the police saying she was anxious about guns being in the house, and SWAT then burst onto the premises, smashing the windows and putting Sean 'in handcuffs,' he told the New York Times.

Sean and Madonna tied the knot in 1985, starting a rollercoaster marriage in which she filed for divorce in 1987, reconciled with him, then left him for good in 1989.

Eventually he got wind of the rumors that he had 'trussed her up like a turkey,' he said. 'I didn’t know what "trussed up" meant, first.'

After he enjoyed a 'lovely night' with a later girlfriend, he woke up the next morning, went out for a cigarette and found himself faced with her 'looking at me like I killed her dog' and asking 'about this hitting Madonna in the head with a baseball bat.'

Sean said: 'I didn’t know what the hell she was talking about. Now I think it’s fair to say that I’m not the biggest guy in the world. But if I hit Mike Tyson in the head with a baseball bat, he’s going to the hospital.' 

Madonna previously said she regretted both of her marriages.

In a video uploaded to her YouTube channel in 2022, the singer had a surprisingly candid answer when asked what decision she 'looks back on' and realizes 'wasn't the best idea.'

'Get married. Both times!' she stated, alluding to her past marriages to Penn and director Guy Ritchie from 2000 to 2008.