Julia Roberts and Sean Penn weigh in on cancel culture, says shame is 'underrated' these days

Entertainment

Julia Roberts and Sean Penn weigh in on cancel culture, says shame is 'underrated' these days

Actors discuss bringing shame back to entertainment industry during Variety interview

Janelle Ash Fox News

Published

December 6, 2025 8:23pm EST

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Julia Roberts and Sean Penn are weighing in on cancel culture in 2025.

During an interview with Variety, Roberts and Penn discussed their illustrious careers and bringing "shame" back into the entertainment industry.

While discussing Roberts's recent film, "After the Hunt," the actress shared a pivotal moment for her when she was mingling with her cast mates and realized that "listening" is what's missing from culture in today's generation.

Julia Roberts and Sean Penn weighed in on cancel culture. (Getty Images)

"Luca [Guadagnino] and Andrew [Garfield] and Ayo [Edebiri] and Chloë [Sevigny] came to our house and sat for days and days at our kitchen table, and we had all these conversations," Roberts began.

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"We’re in this time of a lot of talk therapy, a lot of what I’d call the trauma industry. I think shame is underrated these days."
— Sean Penn

"Really bright people do not jockey for their position. They share their ideas and their feelings and then they listen intently. It’s the listening that I feel we’ve gotten the farthest from in culture, because conversations get so intense so quickly, and you’re just waiting for that break so that you can say, 'OK, but this is why I’m right. This is why what I believe is better,'" she continued.

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Roberts and Penn both agreed that "listening" and "humility" need to come back. (Getty Images)

"It was so nice to have the time and to be with truly bright people, and hearing what everybody had to say. We didn’t necessarily tell all our characters’ secrets. But it was just a great playground of thought," Roberts concluded.

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Penn chimed in, "'Not everything is supposed to make you comfortable' — I just wanted to go, 'Thank God somebody’s saying this.'"

Julia Roberts and Sean Penn are longtime friends. (Getty Images)

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"We’re in this time of a lot of talk therapy, a lot of what I’d call the trauma industry. I think shame is underrated these days," he continued. "It’s got a bad name this decade. Why shouldn’t people be ashamed of things? Hold on to it for a while and reenter with some more humility."

Roberts replied, "Real humility."

Janelle Ash is an entertainment writer for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to janelle.ash@fox.com.

Julia Roberts and Sean Penn weigh in on cancel culture, says shame is 'underrated' these days