Sean Penn and Leila George Finalize Their Divorce After Almost 2 Years of Marriage

Sean Penn and Leila George have been together since 2016, and they married in July 2020 before she filed for divorce in October 2021

Sean Penn
Sean Penn and Leila George in March 2020. Photo: Getty

Sean Penn and Leila George have finalized their divorce.

The Oscar winner, 61, and the Australian actress, 30, first became romantically linked in 2016, and they later married in July 2020. George then filed for divorce in October 2021 after just over a year of marriage.

This January, the pair — who have been spotted out together since the filing, including on New Year's Everetained their own private judge in order to expedite the divorce process through California's backlogged courts.

On Friday, their divorce was finalized and approved, according to documents obtained by PEOPLE. TMZ was first to report the news.

The documents state that Penn and George officially separated in September 2021, and cite irreconcilable differences as the reason behind their breakup. Neither is seeking spousal support from the other.

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Sean Penn Leila George
Sean Penn and Leila George in January 2020. Michael Kovac/Getty

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Earlier this month, Penn spoke with the magazine Hollywood Authentic in support of his work in Ukraine amid the ongoing Russian invasion, and he also opened up about his relationship as well, including how he "f----- up the marriage" by being "very neglectful."

"There's a woman who I'm so in love with, Leila George, who I only see on a day-to-day basis now, because I f----- up the marriage. We were married technically for one year, but for five years, I was a very neglectful guy," he said.

"I was not a f------ cheat or any of that obvious s---, but I allowed myself to think that my place in so many other things was so important, and that included my place in being totally depressed and driven to alcohol and Ambien at 11 o'clock in the morning, by watching the news, by watching the Trump era, by watching it and just despairing," Penn continued.

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The Gaslit star added of George, "And as it turns out — this is going to shock you — beautiful, incredibly kind, imaginative, talented young women who get married to a man quite senior to them in years, they don't actually love it when they get up from their peaceful night's sleep and their new husband is on the couch, having been up since 4, watching all of the crap that's going on in the world and has decided that 10:30 in the morning is a good time to neck a double vodka tonic and an Ambien and say, 'Good morning, honey. I'm going to pass out for a few hours and get away from all this s---.' "

"As it turns out, women as described, they don't love that," he said.

Penn added at the time that he doesn't "know what's going to happen with us," but, "I know that this is my best friend in the world and definitely the most influential, inspiring person, outside of my own blood, that anybody could ask to have in their life."

Though Penn and George (who is the daughter of actor Vincent D'Onofrio) have been together since 2016, a friend of the actress told PEOPLE back in August 2020 that the pair had reunited earlier in the year after a stretch of being on and off.

"Leila has been in Sean's life for a while. They got together and then they broke up, and Sean won her back," the source said at the time. "He realized he had made a mistake and when he felt he might lose her, he worked hard to get her back."

Penn was previously married to Robin Wright, 56, with whom he shares daughter Dylan, 31, and son Hopper, 28. He was also wed to Madonna from 1985 to 1989.

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