Sean Penn has never hit me, Madonna tells court

Sean Penn and Madonna had a four-year marriage which reportedly ended due to Penn's drinking and mood swings. Photo / Getty

Madonna has defended her ex-husband Sean Penn - saying in a sworn statement that the actor never beat her during their tumultuous relationship.

The pop star told the Supreme Court of New York that the suggestion Penn, 55, was violent towards her was completely 'outrageous, malicious, reckless and false'.

She denied that he beat her with a baseball bat or, in a separate incident, tied her up.

The 57-year-old's surprise testimony shows how the pair have reconciled since their four-year marriage ended in 1989 amid claims Penn's excessive drinking and moods ruined their relationship.

In June 1987 Madonna went to hospital for an x-ray and it was later claimed that Penn had hit her with a baseball bat.

In 1988, according to a report filed with the Malibu sheriff's office, Penn, also subjected her to a nine-hour ordeal during which he allegedly tied her to a chair and demanded she perform a degrading sex act on him.

But she told the court: 'While we certainly had more than one heated argument during our marriage, Sean has never struck me, "tied me up" or physically assaulted me, and any report to the contrary is completely outrageous, malicious, reckless and false.' She has intervened in the £6.4million lawsuit that Penn has filed against Oscar-winning director Lee Daniels, who created TV show Empire, for implying that he assaults women.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Daniels said Empire star Terrence Howard, who has admitted slapping his first wife, 'ain't done nothing different than Marlon Brando or Sean Penn'.

Penn said the claims had caused him 'great anguish and personal distress' and damaged his reputation as an actor and humanitarian.

Daniels, who directed Oscar-winner Precious, has filed a motion claiming that Penn is trying to silence his 'honestly held opinion'.